Anarchy
by Marionettes
Summary: Arabella is a Twelve in The Giver's community . Her ceremony comes, and a close friend of hers, Cale, is selected to be the new Receiver and makes a choice that will change their lives, and of future generations. A bit after The Giver takes place. Done
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Arabella woke up at 7 am. She dressed quietly and quickly and went to the table for breakfast. Her older brother Evan was already there. Only her parents were missing from the morning meal. Arabella sat uncomfortable at the table in an embarrasing silence. Evan was several years older than Arabella and had already received his Assignment at his Ceremony of Twelve. He was assigned to be a Laborer. The fact that he didn't get along with Arabella was almost considered a disgrace to her parents' parental guidance.

Arabella was clearly the more intelligent of the two and Evan was conscious of it. They did not get along well, and she was sure the Committee was aware. December was approaching and Arabella was worried about her Assignment, like every other Eleven, she reassured herself.

Many of her friends were quite confident in their Assignments. Ava, for example, was sure she was going to be a Doctor. She excelled in school and spent almost all of her community hours at the Rehabilitation Center. Isaac, another of Arabella's friends, was convinced he was going to be a Nurturer, but one could never be sure.

"Good morning Mother," Evan said when their mother walked into the room.

"Hello Evan," Arabella's mother had been a Birthmother, then was sent to be a Laborer at the Fish Hatchery after the three births. She was the calmer half of the Match. "Good morning Arabella."

"Morning Mother," she replied quietly. Her father was a very timid man. He part of the night crew at the Nurturing Center. Arabella smiled pleasantly as her father told of his dream. He had been watching the children play at the Recreational Center. The children there, who were Elevens and Tens, were playing, but as they played, they began to age backwards.

"Were you afraid?" Mother asked.

"No. I just watched in…surprise," Father replied. Mother nodded, taking that in to consideration.

"I'm an Eleven. Maybe you just don't want me to grow up," Arabella suggested. "You were talking to Margaret about how both of us were going to leave soon."

"That makes sense," Evan agreed. Mother seconded his feelings.

After Evan and Mother had their turns to tell their dreams, it was Arabella's turn. Last night, Arabella had a vivid dream. She had been with Cale, a good friend of hers. They were sitting on a bench together in the Central Plaza. They were having a pleasant conversation.

She remembered that Cale had wanted her to do something, but she couldn't recall what it was. Her parents dismissed the dream and send her to school, and Evan left for work.

* * *

"Arabella!" Ava called. "Isaac, Clayr and Kate and I are going to the House of Old. Want to come? Cale is already there."

Arabella hesitated, then nodded and followed her four friends. Ava, Isaac and Kate and Arabella had always gotten along. She recalled that when they had just started their volunteer hours, even perhaps before that, they were always going around together. Cale as well.

She tagged along with them to the bicycle port and they slowly biked to the House of Old, taking the scenic route along the river. They casually talked like they always did. Isaac talked about how he had heard of a Seven who hadn't turned up to class. It reflected upon parental guidance, as well as the teacher. Arabella couldn't even comprehend doing such an act.

"Remember when Ian was thinking of skipping class?" Clayr asked. "He was so enthusiastic!"

"Oh yes. He was so determined," Kate laughed. "I remembered he tried to get Stefan to do it too. Image what the Chief Elder would have said to them!"

Arabella had never been one for talk. She was calmer, soft-spoken. Whenever she said something, people always listened and usually agreed. Which was why she usually was with Cale. He listened and answered in an intelligent, logical manner. It wasn't as if Ava or Isaac didn't, it was just as if they seemed a bit more half-hearted than Cale.

She could hear her friends' bikes come to a halt, so Arabella slowed her bike, and began to put it carefully into the port. Her eyes were out of focus, and everything began to become more and more blurry. She couldn't sense her legs collapsing underneath her and her bike falling on top of her.

* * *

Thanks for reading! Suggestions are welcome, though I have the main storyline set up already, so no major plot changes! Though maybe once I finish this story, I'll do another if I get enough ideas! I would love some feed back as this is my first story and I'm still kinda new to this community.

Again, thanks for reading,

Marionettes


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Can you hear me?" someone asked. Arabella's eyes flickered awake. Her eyes refocused after a few seconds. She seemed to be in the Rehabilitation Center.

"Yes, I can hear you," Arabella said steadily. She felt a little dizzy but she could see in a straight line. She got off of the table she had been lying on and tried to stand up. She could sense the doctor was watching her carefully. She hoped she didn't embarrass herself as to fall down. Looking at the doctor, she asked, "What happened?"

"You fainted near the House of Old. Your bike fell on you when you collapsed. Your scars should heal and disappear after a while. Come back a week from now," the doctor said and gestured towards her that she was free to go. Arabella thanked the doctor and began to leave the Rehabilitation Center, hoping that she wouldn't be late for the evening meal at home. Her Mother would be worried.

"Arabella, wait," Arabella turned to look for who was calling. It was Cale. "What did the doctor say?"

"Like they always do. I'll be find and I need to come back in a week," Arabella reassured him. "I should be fine. No need to worry."

"Ok…well, I'll see you later then. I told my parents I would wait for you to come out then return back," Cale explained.

"Did we miss the evening meal?" she inquired.

"If you bike quickly, you shouldn't," Cale said. "But I wouldn't bike too quickly."

"Yes. I know," Arabella replied. Cale smiled at her, then turned out of the building. Arabella paused, then followed him. "Wait, Cale!"

Cale turned to her, Arabella wasn't quite sure why she had stopped him.

"Yes?"

"Thanks for waiting for me," Arabella said.

"Just wanted to make sure you were okay. I'm not sure why Ava and Isaac and the rest of them didn't stay, but I guess they needed the community hours," Cale laughed. Arabella laughed too, smiled, then quickly turned to leave.

She hastily got her bike out of the port and slowly biked home. They were in the middle of the evening meal when she went entered the dwelling. She muttered an apology about why she was late and sat down to begin to eat with them.

"We accept your apology, Arabella," Mother recited. "What happened at the House of Old?"

"I fell," she replied quietly. Attention never suited her. She had always preferred to listen. Evan, on the other hand, just gobbled it up. He had always been one to talk.

"Are you okay now?" Father pursued the topic.

"Fine, Father," Arabella said. "The Rehabilitation Center is capable of taking care of a little scratch."

Father sighed, and gave up the hunt for what happened. A moment passed, and Evan brought them back to their original topic before she had intruded on their peaceful dinner. When dinner was over, they had the customary telling of feelings. Arabella had carefully thought about it over the course of the day, and decided she was eager.

"For December. For the Ceremony of Twelve," she told them.

"We all were," Mother sighed, remembering when she had been a Twelve and had received her assignment as a Birthmother, now a Laborer in the Food Delivery crew.

"I'm sure you'll get a great Assignment. The Committee knows what's best for everyone," Father assured her, but Arabella wasn't convinced. They gave comforting words of courage and they left for their sleeping chambers.

* * *

The following day drifted by quickly. Each day seemed similar to the last and nothing incredibly significant was happening daily, except the coming of the Ceremonies. Everyday after school, age groups would huddle together at the Recreation Center. Arabella knew they were talking about the coming year; and for the Twelves, about what their Assignment would be.

Arabella usually didn't stick around. She wanted to be surprised about her Assignment as well as others. Even her faithful friend Cale had been drawn into the clusters to discuss their futures. Maybe it was because Arabella was too afraid of what her Assignment would be.

"I just don't want to know! It takes away the element of surprise!" Arabella objected to Ava one day. Ava laughed, sighed, then turned away crestfallen. Arabella stood where she was and watched Ava leave towards a group of friends.

"Maybe it would do you good! You're too rigid, Arabella!" Ava shouted, then covered her mouth in embarrassment. She would be called in for chastisement and the Committee would know. Chastisement was taken very seriously, and Arabella was lucky enough that she had only been chastised for rude language a few times.

"I apologize for being rude," Ava said as she stormed past Arabella to talk to the Recreation Director.

"I accept you apology Ava!" Arabella said as Ava ran off.

* * *

"Ready for your Ceremony of Twelve?" Cale asked as he turned the water faucet on for the next bath.

"Not nearly," Arabella replied as she scrubbed the back of the man whom she was bathing. After the accident with Ava, Arabella had gone of to the House of Old to do some community hours. Cale had already been there bathing the Old so Arabella was sent to join him. Eric, the man whom she was bathing, was relaxing silently in the bed. Not much of a talker, eh? she thought. "You?"

"I have confidence in the Committee that they'll give me what I deserve," Cale declared.

"And that's the only way to think about it," the woman whom he was bathing added.

"Well, I'm not quite that reasonable about it. I'm just afraid that I'm going to get stuck with something I don't like, but deserve," Arabella explained.

"You could apply for a release if you really don't like it," the woman said as she got out of the tub and put her robe on. "Well, whatever happens, I'm sure you will like your Assignments. The choices are made very carefully and almost always are right."

"When have they been wrong?" Cale asked as Arabella let the silent man out of the robe. The next woman to get in her tub was named Katharine. She had paler eyes but they seemed to be full of energy.

"Many years ago, a boy named Jonas was given a high position of respect. It was well deserved, but…it was very costly to them. It was very disastrous," Katharine said. "I was a Six when it happened."

"Jonas. I remember hearing that name," Cale said fondly. "I heard one of the Elders speaking of him…"

"I'm not surprised. They still sit around and sulk about the mistakes of the past," Katharine sighed. Arabella was surprised at the woman's words. They were almost hateful. Arabella finished scrubbing her and helped her out of the tub. She dried the woman's fragile body and helped her put her robe back on. "Thank you. What are your names?"

"Arabella."

"Cale."

"I shall speak to the Elders of you with high regards," Katharine said. Arabella was stunned, thinking back to where she had seen the woman's face before. The Reciever! Arabella remembered. Katharine is The Reciever!

* * *

Thanks for reading, and I hope you liked it. Katharine is one of Lois Lowry's original characters (reference on page 156). I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope you will take the time to review as they are very helpful!!! Also, I tweaking with the storyline and room for a 3rd main character is apparent. I'm kinda dry of characters as I've been working on a few stories and started about three new ones...so if you can think of a character for my story, that would be really great!!! I just need name, gender, personality and what their Assignment would be (Note: Reciever is TAKEN)

Hope you enjoyed, and really, reviews are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO helpful, expecially to a newbie like myself!!!

Marionettes  
p.s. If there are any mistakes, I apologize. I'm not great grammar...or spelling...so yeah!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Cale followed Katharine leave the House of Old. Cale had been aware of the Annex behind the building but never really took notice of it. The door had always been locked, and Cale had never seen it open. Katharine looked back, turned to the door and opened it.

"What are you doing Cale!?" it was Arabella. Cale turned around and quieted her.

"I'm following Katharine. Don't you want to know who she is?" he whispered. Ever so softly, he added, "I think she's the Reciever."

Arabella nodded, and followed Cale to the Annex door. There was a little buzzer and the building was windowless, unusual for a building in the Community. Arabella glanced at Cale, and he smiled back at her and gently pressed the buzzer.

"Hello. Is this Cale and Arabella?" the voice said.

"Yes," Cale said into the buzzer and a little click told them the door was unlocked. The two of them smiled at each other and opened the door to go inside the Annex. There was an attendant, then another locked door on the left, presumably Katharine's room. Another click, the door to Katharine's room opened and Cale opened it. Katharine was alone in the room.

He looked around and saw all the books. He saw the elaborately carved furniture and all of the lavish luxuries Katharine had. He took the magnificence of the room in, then wandered up to the bookcase out of curiosity.

"Yes. I did the same when I first came here," Katharine said. To Arabella, she added, "You can come in. We're not animals you know."

Arabella! He had nearly forgotten all about her. She tentatively walked around the room, touching the furniture and rich curtains and blankets while Katharine watching them with eager eyes. Cale turned back to the bookcase. When he was close enough to see the titles, he realized that they weren't just the standard rule books.

Of course they were rule books, he thought, there is only one rule book, and Katharine has thousands. It was overwhelming how many books she had. All these resources and power at her fingertips…Cale couldn't image power like that. The Reciever was the most honored and powerful Elder on the Committee. Even the Chief Elder wasn't as powerful as The Reciever.

"Done looking?" she asked.

"I apologize if we have interrupted you," Arabella immeadiatley apologized. Cale echoed her apology. Katharine almost smiled, but did not reply in the standard response. Arabella paused a moment, then continued, "Do you mind if I ask a question?"

"Go ahead."

"How come everything here is so much more fine than the standard furniture, if you don't mind me asking," she asked. Cale admired her. He would never have had the courage to ask. It was a one-in-a-lifetime experience, and Cale was missing it.

"My standards are higher. Everything I see has more detail in so many more ways than you can imagine," Katharine said simply. Cale could tell she was holding something back, but didn't mention it.

"Why were you at the House of Old if you are The Reciever?" Cale asked, knowing he might have interrupted her.

"Privileges. I consider it a privelage to be bathed by another," Katharine replied with the same simple tone that seemed to hold something back. She smiled at them, and glanced at the clock on the wall, "It is getting late and your family units will be expecting you."

Cale nodded in agreement. Arabella had already turned to leave, but Cale lingered in the fantastical room.

"Can we come back?" Cale asked quietly before leaving Katharine's room.

"You may. But do not bring anyone else," Katharine replied with emphasis on the second sentence. Cale nodded, then slipped out to get back to his family unit.

* * *

"I apologize for being late. The House of Old was very busy today," Cale announced when he got to his home. Mother was just sitting down for the evening meal.

"We accept you apology," they replied. Tanya, his younger sister, smiled at him and turned towards the table.

"Anyways, I am happy today because I got a 100% on the quiz we received yesterday," Tanya explained. "She said that I had the highest score in the class, privately of course. She said that the Committee would be told."

"That great, Tanya!" Father exclaimed. "What about you Cale?"

"I am…eager for the Ceremony of Twelve," Cale told him, thinking of it on the spot.

"Its getting late Tanya, come on. You should get some sleep," Father said, putting Tanya and his tray away, then leading Tanya to her sleepingroom. Cale sighed, and got up to put his tray away for the Cleaning Crew to pick up later.

The amount of homework that was sent home from class was lessening with the coming of the Ceremony of Twelve. Formal schooling mostly ended and adult training began. Cale was excited for the Ceremony, but he wasn't quite sure if he wanted to hear it. It would mean the end of friendship. He wouldn't have time to visit Ava or Arabella or Isaac. Even Katharine, his new friend. There may not be time for even The Reciever.

* * *

**Today is an unscheduled holiday**, the Speaker announced. Cale smiled and said goodbye to his parents and Tanya. He got his bike out of the port to find his friends and quickly biked to the Recreation Center. There was an ongoing game of war. Cale was about to join them, when he saw the robes of an Elder watching them. It was Katharine.

"Coming to play Cale?" Isaac called at him as he ducked under one of Ava's imaginary shots. Cale shook his head, and jogged up to the Elder.

"Going to play with your friends?" she asked sourly. Cale shook his head.

"I…" he didn't know why he wasn't playing. He had always joined in their games, but he just didn't seem to have the heart to play. "I was wondering if I could go to the Annex to read some of the books there. I have never seen some of them before."

"That's fine. The attendant should let you in. I would find Arabella. She may be disappointed if you forget her," Katharine suggested.

"I would never!" he objected as he ran off to get Arabella.

Another Elder walked up to Katharine. It was an old male with pale eyes. He was seemed weary and every movement he made looked pained.

"Well?"

"I can't tell. They're too similar."

* * *

Hope you liked!!! Still need that character!!!!!!!! At this point, I can't complete Ch. 4 unless I have it. Sneak peak: Ch. 4 is the Ceremony of Twelve!!!!!! (I bet you are all dying to know who the Reciever is, and if you aren't, than read the chapters again!!!).

PLEASE, if you've got time, read and **REVIEW** because I'm feeling kinda...bad about the story because NO ONE IS REVIEWING!!!!

Thanks for reading and REVIEWING PEOPLES,  
Marionettes  
[if you review, I'll give you a virtual cookie :). I make good cookies]


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Arabella was restless. She was well aware that the next day would begin the Ceremonies. She was excited, but almost afraid. She could not predict what her Assignment would be. The days had passed quickly starting from the day she and Cale had met Katharine to the present. Almost everyday, Cale and Arabella had gone to The Reciever's Annex and occupied their time by reading and talking.

It was nice talking with Katharine. She was really nice and Arabella had never really been friends with an adult. But though they were friends, The Reciever always seemed to be holding something back. She wasn't quite sure what it was, but it seemed like there was a big secret that Katharine wasn't permitted to tell.

"Well, she's an Elder," Cale kept reminding her. "She probably knows a lot that we don't know and-"

"I know," Arabella retorted impatiently. "I apologize for interrupting you Cale. I just wish she could trust enough to tell us."

"Maybe she was instructed not to," Cale suggested.

Arabella paused. She hadn't thought of that. All Young Adults received a list of rules that applied to them. Maybe Katharine had been instructed not to tell. It was almost impossible to think of. Imagine if everything Katharine had told them was a lie? She did seem a bit stand-offish around them. She didn't apologize when they were being rude, or if she interrupted, she never apologized either. It was odd behavior and she certainly would have been severely chastised in the Community. Of course, no one would dream of chastising The Reciever.

After the impossible thought, Arabella drifted off to a dreamless sleep.

The morning meal was rushed and the trays were clumsily dumped aside. Arabella's family unit was eager to get to the Amphitheatre for the Naming. It was always a joyous time and Ava had mentioned that her family was getting a Newchild. She biked to the Amphitheatre and quickly parked her bike in the port and hurried down to her friends.

Cale, Kate and Isaac were seated in the rows and Arabella darted through the crowd to grab a seat next to Cale.

"Hey Arabella!" Cale said quietly.

"Hi. Is Ava with her parents?" she asked.

"Her parents are receiving a Newchild," Isaac told her.

"Number 21, Lucas," the announcer said and handed the Newchild to Ava's parents. Arabella shot an enthusiastic smile to Ava and gave her a thumbs up in congratulations. Ava smiled back and turned her attention back to the announcer and her new baby brother.

"I remember getting Tanya," Cale remarked. "I remember being so excited."

"And jumpy. I could talk to you for more than a few seconds without you screaming about how excited you were," Arabella joked. They laughed and then quieted for the next Newchild.

All fifty Newchildren were assigned and the real Ceremonies began. Arabella had never really payed attention. Being the younger child, she had never had a sibling to watch. However, she did watch Cale's younger sister, Tanya. She was becoming a Seven that year. The morning passed quickly and there was the break for lunch. The Nines were clustered around their new bikes and the Sevens were chatting about their community hours.

Evening soon became the morning of the following day. The Elevens had their Ceremonies, then the Ceremony of Twelve began immediately after lunch. They got in their numbered seats on the stage. Arabella looked out the audience. She could make out the eyes of several people. She could see Katharine's pale eyes near the back of the auditorium and her family unit watching her intently. Evan was a bit more spaced out, but curious all the same.

The Chief Elder's speech was the same as every year, but Arabella paid special attention to it. It carried more meaning than anything ever spoken to her before. She pointed at the characteristics of her friends, none of whom she recognized to be herself. She caught on that her year was not the most promising years and the majority would be doing manual labor, or mostly.

…We honor your differences. For they have determined your futures (The Giver, p. 52)," the Chief Elder called out the audience. Arabella, surprisingly, found herself icy calm. All the past emotions of anxiety or fear had dissolved. She was simply waiting at this point.

Finally, the Chief Elder called number One to the stage, Clayr. She was given the Assignment of Instructor of Elevens. Clayr was astonished, but Arabella could see her smiling. She hadn't known Clayr all that well, but they were still friendly. The Chief Elder said the last phrase of the speech and continued on to number Two.

The assignmnt continued on until Griffin, who was Eleven. He was given the Assignment of Engineer. He was smiling too.

"Griffin, we thank you for your childhood," the Chief Elder said. She smiled at him, and called, "Thirteen, Arabella."

Arabella paused for a moment. Thinking she had heard wrong, but she must not inturrupt the Ceremony. Looking back, she saw Cale. His face was dazed and he looked clammy. Arabella smiled at him, and looked to the Chief Elder. She gave no notice of the skip and continued normally about how Arabella had always been a non-judgemental, sympathetic and just.

"Arabella, we have given you Assistant Director of the Departmen of Justice," the Chief Elder told her as she pinned the badge onto her tunic. "We thank you for you childhood."

An applause cheered her on as she returned to her seat. She wasn't sure how she felt. She was worried for Cale…but she was worried for herself too. How could they have given her such an important Assignment? She was sure it was undeserved, but she would never question their choices. But then she looked to her left. The Chief Elder hadn't given another thought about Cale. What would happen to him? Had he not completed enough community hours for an Assignment?

The girl to her left, Stella, was called up. The Chief Elder smiled and announced her as the Assistant Speaker. Arabella hadn't really known her that well. They had done some community hours at the Nurturing Center a few times. She had been very talkative and lively. It was a good choice on the Committee's part.

Finally, the last Eleven was called, Elias. Arabella hadn't heard what his Assignment was. She was too focused on Cale. He was obviously uneasy and tense. She knew she would have been in the Chief Elder had skipped her at the Ceremony of Twelve.

"I understand that you believe I have made a mistake at the Ceremony of Twelve," the Chief Elder announced. "For this, I apologize to my community."

The audience mumbled a response, still anxsious about what would happen to Cale.

"And Cale, I apologize to you," the Chief Elder.

"I accept your apology," Cale said steadily. He was brave, Arabella was sure she wouldn't have been able to do that.

"And now, I would like to make the announcement that Cale has not been assigned," the Chief Elder said. Cale sighed, crestfallen, and looked to the audience in disappointment. "He has been selected as the Reciever-in-training."

"Congratulations Arabella!" Mother exclaimed when they had been dismissed from the stage.

"I know you'd get a great assignment," Father admitted quietly. Arabella smiled, nodded then raced away to find Cale. Evan opened his mouth to congratulate her, but she was already gone and running off to find her friend.

"Arabella, congratulations," Cale said.

"Yeah. You too," Arabella panted. He was still near the stage. He seemed to be talking to Stella. "Oh, I apologize for interrupting."

"We accept you apology Arabella," Stella smiled.

"Stella had just told me that her mother is Katharine," Cale added. Arabella was surprised. She hadn't been aware that Katharine had a spouse.

"Oh. I wasn't aware, that's cool. You're going to be working with her mother," Arabella smiled. She was envious. She would have loved to be in that Annex, surrounded by all those books, and someone with such a worldly knowledge like Katharine.

"Well, she's kind of distant, if you know what I mean. She's never once participated in the dream-telling in the morning and always kinda cryptic," Stella confessed. "And I've never seen her apply for medicine. Sometimes she comes home limping or something. I've always told her I could take her to the Rehabilitation Center, but she always denies it."

"Well, I wish my mother was like Katharine," Arabella sighed. "Who's your father? I've never met him before."

"He's a Caretaker of the Old," Stella said.

"We'd better go get the evening meal before Ava takes it all," Cale suggested after an unusually long pause. Arabella nodded in agreement and followed behind Cale. Stella waited a few moments then trailed behind them.

Arabella, Stella and Cale sat together for the evening meal. The crowd began to disperse and the three left for the own dwellings. Arabella hadn't really wanted to leave, but she knew she had to. Every day, she found herself enjoying her time spent with Cale. She knew it was unusual, but she wasn't quite sure what to do about it.

* * *

Thanks for reading and I hoped you liked it!!! Note: I used some of the text from _The Giver, _like, directly so I hope that you saw that. I've been thinking, and I just happened to remember that Arabella's stirrings haven't been treated yet (they've started...or what I wrote, it sounds like they've started). For one thing, I could have her go untreated and have Arabella and Cale get together (yay!!!!) or she could be treated and it could just be Cale without the stirrings attracted to Arabella. I personally think it would be interesting either way.

The other thing I've been thinking about is if I should write the whole things from Arabella's point of view. One of the chapters is from Cale's POV. Did you like it from Arabella's or Cale's?

Thanks,  
Marionettes


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The evening meal had passed calmly. Her family had congratulated her on her Assignment shared their feelings then left for their sleepingrooms. Arabella had remembered just in time to read her instructions in the folder the Chief Elder had distributed after the ceremony. There was one piece of paper filled with a few rules. She was sure she would have more information to memorize and so forth. She didn't even know who the Director of The Department of Justice was.

_Arabella_

_Assistant Director of The Department of Justice_

_1. All grudges against any member of the community no longer exists. If you cannot complete this, inform the Director of The Department of Justice and you will be removed and reassigned._

_2. You may ask any member of the community a question and will receive honest answers._

_3. Supervise the members of the Department of Justice with respect, but with the intentions to keep the Department productive. Failure to do this will result in impeachment and reassignment or release._

_4. Keep a respectable distance between all other members of the community, including any spouse or children._

_5. Judge members of the community with fairness and justness. Failure to do this will result in impeachment and reassignment or release._

_6. Your position of power is not to be abused. Failure to comply with this rule will result in automatic release._

_7. You may not reply for a release until a replacement has been identified._

Arabella read them twice. She didn't personally hold grudges anyways. Most of the requirements would be no problem. She read them again to make sure she knew them for the morning then went to bed excited for the day to come.

"Morning Mother," Arabella said as sat down for the morning meal. Mother smiled with her mouth full of food. Father grunts a morning. Evan says nothing. Arabella guessed he was mad she had gotten a nice Assignment and he hadn't…but he knew that already, didn't he?

They mumbled out the dream-telling and all left for work with minimal talking. Luckily, she already knew the Department of Justice was located, so time wasn't quite an issue. She didn't see that many friends, but she passed saw Stella going towards the Amphitheatre. Come to think of it, Arabella had no idea where the Speaker worked. Curious thought.

The housing units were on the other side of the Dept. of Justice, and across the river so Arabella had some time to think. Her mind slowly drifted to Cale. He would start his training in the Annex with Katharine. Maybe there would be a chance to see him later.

"Wait! Arabella!" someone called behind her. Arabella came to a steady stop and turned her head to see who it was. Cale, surprisingly, was biking up to her. "Katharine said to come back tomorrow…so I figured I could just tag along with someone for the training."

"Well, I guess you come with me," Arabella sighed, "I doubt the Director will object."

They casually talked until they came to the Dept. of Justice. The building looked like any other building in the community. Nothing signaled it to be unique or special. Just the standard gray building with the flat roof.

"You did some hours here before, right?" Cale asked.

"Yeah. I really enjoyed it. I was usually part of the jury. I guessed the Committee knew that," Arabella said softly as she pulled over to put her bicycle in the port. Cale smiled at her, and reached for her hand, giving a comfortable squeeze. Arabella flinched away from his touch, even though she had liked the feeling.

"I apologize for inappropriate touch," Cale murmured, closing his eyes.

"I accept you apology," Arabella smiled as she took his hand.

"Stirrings…aren't you taking the pills? Not to point out a difference of course," Cale said quickly as they walked up to the attendant.

"…never. Why?" Arabella muttered, then formally addressed the attendant, "Hello. I'm Arabella, and this is Cale. He wanted to see the Department of Justice for training purposes."

"The Director is in Suite 116," the attendant said as she provided map of the building. Arabella thanked the attendant. Without a glance towards Cale, she began to look at the map. It included parts of the building she had never seen before. Curious.

"This place is pretty big," Cale remarked when he caught a glance of the map.

"I've never been to some of these places," Arabella said as she opened the door to the Director's office. It was a woman. She looked up. Arabella guessed that she thought that they were two children lost. Then she saw Arabella and a smile lit up her face. "I'm Arabella. This is Cale, the Reciever-in-training. He's here to assist him with training, the Reciever suggested he follow me."

The Director paused, and looked Arabella in the eye. "Very well. Pleased to meet you Cale. I understand that you have taken hours here before?"

"Yes ma'am," Arabella said, without a better word for a name.

"Let me introduce myself, I am Cynthia, your father's older sister," the Director said. "You may call me Cynthia, ma'am. Whatever pleases you."

"Yes, ma'am," Arabella whispered.

"Anyways, I am sure you served as part of a jury for one case. I would like for you to sit through a higher level of trial, one of the ones not open to the community. I believe that you are familiar with the judge. I believe it is your mother, Cale."

Arabella was surprised. She hadn't known Cale's mother was a judge. Cynthia handed her a few papers of an overview of the trial. Someone had been repeatedly skipping work. He was a Laborer in a nessecary manufacturing plant outside of the Community. He had been skipping work for several days and was being tried for the final time.

"Oh," Cale said uncomfortable. Of course, Arabella could sympathize with him with the way Cynthia was glaring at him. Arabella began to wonder if the Committee chose her to replace the Director, or the Director chose her to replace herself.

In silence, the Director led them to the courtroom. All of the faces turned when they opened the door. She guessed they were surprised to see two young children in the private, more prestigious courtroom.

"Continue Candice. The Assistant Director is just here for training, as well as the Reciever-in-training," the Director signaled to continue the trial. Cale's mother nodded and turned back to the man. The Director gestured for us to take a seat in some chairs next to the jury box. There were two chairs, and the Director took one.

"You can take it," Cale offered, smiling. She shook her head.

"You're my guest," she protested. Cynthia gave a sharp glance at both of them and Cale quickly sat down. Arabella could not even begin to guess how Cynthia had gotten the job of Director of the Department of Justice.

The trail followed a different procedure that the public trials. Normally, the accused would state their transgression then the person who had reported it would tell the judge their version. After that, the judge would compare say their input and the decision would go the jury.

Instead, this trial had a few extra people explaining the situation on behalf of the accused. It similar to the debates they had done in their classes. Every now and then, the Instructors would organize the classes into teams that would debate against each other. One side would point out all of the cons of the punishment decided at the beginning of the trial. The other side explains all pros for the execution of the punishment.

Arabella hadn't known Cale's mother that well and felt no differently when the consensus was agreed to. However, she could sense that Cale was a bit nervous when it came time to decide on the proper reaction. His mother, in the end, agreed to the punishment: release.

"I want to be there," Cale said. Cynthia frowned, glanced at his mother, then look at him again. She was thinking then smiled. Arabella guessed she had just remembered that he was the Reciever-in-training.

"At the release?" Arabella asked, surprised. Why would he want to do something like that?'

"Yes," Cale said hesitantly.

"I want to come then," Arabella told him quietly.

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I really hope you guys have time to rate!!!!! I'm feeling kinda....like I'm a bad writer...(you don't what THAT)

Hope you read & review (and that you like my story!!!)  
Marionettes


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Cale was sure he wanted to go to the man's, whose name was Thomas, release. Both Arabella, Stella and Katharine urged him not to go, but he was confident. Thomas was scheduled to be released a week after his trial. Katharine had asked for the release to be rescheduled and was informed the ceremony was put off a week.

Cale had experienced numerous memories from Katharine, both the positive, happy ones of the future as well as the despairing, sad ones. He found himself enjoying the time spent with his friends, exclusively Arabella and Stella.

His other groupmates like Ava and Kate were slowly drifting away. Their paths didn't cross as much and they saw less and less of each other. Ava was training for her assignment that was lesser than Arabella's or his. With Katharine's memories came a distinct border between his family and himself, and the rest of the community and himself. He was painfully aware that they were emotionless and that their lives were almost meaningless.

Every now and then, he let something about his training slip to Arabella or Stella, but they just ignored it. They had to. Once, he had started to talk about colors, and they just stared at him clueless and switched to a different topic. It was an unusual relationship between the three of them. Arabella and he were good friends, as well as Stella and himself. But the two girls just barely seemed to tolerate the other.

"So how was training?" Cale casually asked Arabella.

"Fine. There are so many regulations and guidelines for me to learn. And I have to go through all of the appeals and pick out the ones that should go to the judges or Cynthia," Arabella explained. "How was yours?"

"Oh, fine. Katharine was telling me about…" Cale trailed off. Katharine had been telling Cale about warfare and weapons. Arabella wouldn't understand…and even if she could, Cale couldn't tell.

"What was she saying?" Arabella prompted after a few seconds of waiting.

"She was showing me some detailed textbooks of reference to the past," Cale said quickly. Arabella seemed satisfied, she was smiling. It always filled him with a comforting warmth to see her smile. Thinking quickly, he asked, "Can I show you something?"

"Sure," she encouraged.

"Ok. We need to go to the Recreation Center," Cale said he pulled his bike out. Arabella smiled and nodded and anxiously followed him. He was surprised at her eagerness…maybe it was the pills. She hadn't been taking the pills for a while now, with Cale's advice.

"Ok, lets go sit at the benches," he suggested, it would be a vital turning point in his plan and if she declined, it wouldn't work. But luckily, she agreed and they ambled over to the benches in an awkward silence. He hadn't done this before, and wasn't sure how it worked.

"Close your eyes," he whispered into her ear softly, so no one else would hear it. Once her eyelids were closed and her breath was a rhythmic action, Cale gently put his hand on her back and thought of the most beautiful, vibrant, colorful sunrise on the most placid, gentle ocean that Katharine had given him.

He watched her experience the memory and saw her breath quicken. He guessed she had reached the climax of the memory, when the sun just peaked above the horizon and the sky flashed a deep indigo. He had been breathless. And even more so would Arabella be, as she had never seen colors before.

Finally, her breathing became normal again and she opened her eyes, staring blankly ahead.

"Well…what do you think?" Cale asked shakily. "That's what I do with Katharine. That's the secret she hid from us."

* * *

It is really short. I know. (like...600 words!!!!) Seriously, even if you don't have an FF account, you can still review (...I think so...or at least...I did on a different computer, anonymously)!! I'd love to her 'bout what you think of the characters as my friend and I have this little problem about character motives and personality.

Thanks a bunch!!!  
Marionettes


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"I don't know what to say…astonishing," she murmured in response. "But I can understand why Katharine was always so secretive."

Cale breathed a sigh of relief. She understood! The burden of the past may be just a little bit more light.

"What about the colors? What did you think of them?" he asked curiously, now hungry for what she had experienced as it was no longer his.

"Colors?" Arabella asked, raising her eyebrow.

"I apologize for being vague," Cale said, but continued, "Colors was a quality of all shapes and things in the past...didn't the sun look different from the ocean, which was a different shade from the sky?"

Arabella cocked her head fondly, "…yes…I suppose. The…ocean's…color was peaceful…tranquil…"

Cale smiled. Maybe his secrets of the past may not have to between Katharine and himself! There was a third person who understood which could potentially be very dangerous. What if she showed the memory to someone else?

"Arabella, I hope you know that you can't share that memory with anyone," Cale added quietly.

"Of course not! I would never. They wouldn't understand," Arabella reassured him.

"I apologize for doubting you," he grinned.

"I accept you apology," she smiled back and stood up. "I'd better find Cynthia. She said an important case was being heard today and that I should go."

Cale nodded, wishing she could stay so they could talk more. On the other hand, keeping Cynthia waiting was a bad idea. He watched the younger community members play their petty mock warfare battles and it saddened him. He could do nothing as they pretended to kill their friends. He remembered the days when he too had taken part in them. It was a fun game, he had to admit. Regardless, it imitated the most dangerous, immoral feat of the past. How could he continue in the game?

Restless, he decided to walk to the south Plaza. Katharine had often told him of previous Recievers, namely Jonas, the most radical of them. When she had been born, there had only been one river. The community had since expanded to cross two rivers with four plazas. Two were located between the two rivers and one on either side. Housing units were included in all three plans and the community was still growing. They were thinking of draining the surrounding marshland to expand. Cale expected it to go to Katharine for deciding.

"Hey Cale," Stella said, surprised. "Didn't expect to see you here. Katharine said you were busy, with Arabella."

"She had to go listen to some hearing with Cynthia," Cale explained. "How's your training? I've never met the Speaker before."

"Oh, he's very nice. Its fairly easy. Training isn't that demanding," Stella told him. "How's training with Mother?"

"Fine," Cale said briefly. "We get along really well. The Committee made a good choice."

"That's good," Stella said softly. Cale smiled at her and told her he had to go. As citizens-in-training, they could still volunteer. Katharine often dismissed him from training so he had lots of time to spend. He often went to the Department of Justice to help Arabella. Did the Speaker take volunteer hours?

"Looking for Arabella?" the attendant asked cheerfully. He had come often enough that she recognized his face. He nodded, and she pointed in the direction of the hearing. As the Reciever-in-training, he was allowed to go everywhere, except for private dwellings. Even then, he still could enter if he had a just reason and permission from Katharine or the Chief Elder.

He had been careful not to abuse his privileges. However, he had watched a private ceremony, not Thomas'. It was saddening, how they used a simple injection to kill helpless children and the Old. It was almost disgraceful. He had also gone to other communities and listened to lectures about community improvement. It was a big world, but it used to be ever larger, when the memories had taken place.

He reached the hearing. Cynthia wasn't present, but Arabella was as was his mother. A judge, male, was listening to the case. He didn't know what the transgression was, but it appeared to be a major transgression as everyone seemed to be ill at ease and rigid.

"Cale," his mother had said and gestured for him to sit next to her. "There is a seat over here."

He nodded and sat down, glancing at Arabella who was seated in the opposite row of chairs. The hearing was almost over, and it was just a few minutes before the punishment was agreed to. It wasn't quite as severe as release, but he was being removed from his family unit and being re-assigned as a Laborer with the Childless Adults.

"What do you think?" Arabella asked as they were departing the courtroom. "Do you think they came to the right punishment?"

"I don't the re-assignment was necessary," he told her, and she nodded gravely. "So what was his transgression?"

"I think he hadn't been going back to his dwelling at night, sleeping at the House of Old or something. I can't image how one could get away with staying over night at the House of Old," Arabella confessed. They left the building, and Arabella stiffened when she saw Stella coming up towards them. "Hi Stella, its great to see you again."

"You too," she smiled. "Hey Cale."

"Hi Stella," Cale greeted, smiling back. He was well aware at Arabella's obvious unease. Stella was slightly overbearing, and a bit talktative. Which was probably why they had chosen her for Speaker. She had just started to ramble on about her day and about being polite over the speaker and not showing too much emotion and all this other information. It was a bit boring.

"That's great Stella," Cale said when she seemed about done.

"I wasn't done," she laughed.

"I apologize for inturupting you then," Cale replied.

"I accept. Anyways, after…" and she began to drone on about going to the House of Old for some volunteer hours. That had been one of the rules that had been changed in the past few years. Volunteer hours didn't stop at Twelve. They continued on until one entered Childless Adults and were not required, just optional if one had the time.

"Oh, by the way Cale," Stella said, as if it was her conclusion, "Mother said to tell you that they changed Thomas' release date to today. I think its happening now…she said late afternoon…"

Cale froze. The release! Giving a quick glance to Arabella, he said, "Thanks so much, Stella. It was great talking to you. I'll see you later, but I have to go!"

"Bye," Stella called, then glared at Arabella, "Are you going too?"

"Yes," she said quickly and ran off.

"You cannot watch the release," the attendant repeated for the fouth time. Cale was at his wits end. "The rules say that no one except the doctor can be present at the release of a convicted citizen. It is not allowed."

Cale could sense Arabella's tenseness. They could potentially get in a lot of trouble if Cale talked back to the attendant. Even though he was allowed to be rude and such, he avoided abusing it. He did not want to be an obnoxious Reciever.

"Cale!" someone said sharply. It was Katharine. "Excuse me, I need to talk to him for a few seconds."

"Go ahead," the attendant said suddenly cheerful.

"As the Reciever-in-training, you will have access to the record later on. Let it go this time and you may watch it later," Katharine said softly so that Arabella wouldn't hear. She wasn't aware that Cale had given her the memory of the sunset.

"Ok," he replied, then to Arabella, "We're not getting anywhere and we're just taking up her time. We'd best go."

"We apologize for taking your time," she told the attendant and quietly followed Cale out of the building wordlessly.

* * *

Tell me what you think. I'm pretty close to dying for feedback!!!! (ALMOST literally).

Happy reading,  
Marionettes


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"So…you have access to everything?" Arabella asked, dumbfounded. Cale had just attempted to explain her about the records he had access to. She was overwhelmed. She was sure even the Chief Elder didn't have access!

"Yes," Cale repeated patiently for the fourth. "I have access to Thomas' release. I'll watch it later I suppose."

"What about me?" Arabella asked. If Cale was going to watch it, he should let her in on it anyways. She was going to have watch it, except the attendant would let her, or Cale. So it would be just like watching the release, except it was a video. So there shouldn't be any reason to not let he see it.

"I'm afraid you won't be able to watch it," he admitted. Arabella paused, digesting what he had he said.

"Why not?" she asked quietly.

"Katharine said I wasn't aloud to let you watch it. I guess she still thinks you're a normal citizen," he said, then added, "Not that your abnormal…it's just that you know about the past…about the war…the pain…the emotions…"

"I…understand," she sighed, and walked away, crestfallen. It was rules. She couldn't do anything about it, so she would just have to accept it. She couldn't request a change of rules! Nor could Cale. So she would just have to accept what had happened.

Cale left to watch the release. She wasn't even sure why she wanted to see what happened. Probably becaue Cale wanted to. She always found herself wanting to do what he did. She wanted to have the same experiences as he did. She wanted to be his equal, not below, or above.

"Hey Arabella," Ava called from across the Recreation Center. Arabella turned, smiling. She hadn't talked to Ava in forever. They had drifted apart between the Ceremony of Twelve and the going on of Cale and Stella. Her life was bustling with activing. "Hey! I haven't seen you in forever! Kate was beginning you were going to stop hanging out with us."

"I apologize for ignoring you guys," Arabella laughed.

"We accept you apology," Kate said, coming up to Ava's side. She had a cheery smile on her face. Her cheeks were flushed rosy. Arabella had glad Cale had shown her the sunset. She saw the beautiful red tones in everyone's faces now. During the exercising periods after school, everyone's faces were rosy with the gentle color.

Cale had told her of other colors, but hadn't shown her any more. She couldn't comprehend any other color other than red. How could there be more of this quality to anything else? It was startling enough that this exotic quality existed anyways.

"Arabella?" Kate's friendly voice brought Arabella out of her comfortable thoughts. "What were you thinking about?"

Arabella didn't know what to say. Cale had told her not to tell anyone…but she couldn't lie! She thought for a moment, then said, "Something Cale told me about. He was talking to me about the past."

"Oh, like, the Chief Elders before the Chief Elder?" Ava asked. She knew all about the topic. Her mother was on the Committee of Elders, even though she wasn't that old. Arabella nodded, mentally chastising herself…but she couldn't tell them about the colors!

"Um…I have to go. I promised Cale I'd meet him around now," she said, looking at her watch. Kate smiled sympathetically, but Ava frowned. Arabella could tell she wanted her to stay…but she couldn't. She didn't want to have to lie again…

"Cale! Katharine! Someone!" she pounded at the door the Annex.

"Who is it?" the speaker said calmly. She said her name and the door clicked open as it always had. The attendant smiled cheerfully and uttered a greeting and unlocked the door to the left.

"Lock the door, Martha!" Katharine's voice shouted. It wasn't like the familiar voice of Katharine's that Arabella was used to hearing. It was more strained, more tense, more afraid than normal.

"It's me, Katharine. It's Arabella," she told Katharine, opening the door. Katharine was there. So was Cale. They were both seated in chairs around a blank, white wall. Cale was shirtless. He had mentioned how his training had worked briefly and he had talked about taking his tunic off.

"Now isn't the best time…" Katharine trailed off. She could see teardrops running down Cale's face than down his throat. She wondered what had been so unsettling. Maybe it was the release.

"Did you watch the release?" Arabella asked quietly. Katharine nodded, and gave squeezed Cale's shoulder gently. He wiped the tears away from his face and looked at her. "Is it still not possible that I can watch it?"

"Impossible," he murmured, closing his eyes.

"Why are you here?" Katharine said bluntly.

Arabella opened her mouth to begin, but she wasn't sure. What if Cale hadn't told Katharine about the sunset? Regardless, she wasn't prepared to lie to Katharine, especially not Katharine. "I had been thinking about how beautiful the color red was and I drifted off…and Ava asked me what I was thinking about, and I told her something that Cale had told me…I know I can't tell her about the color…but nor should I lie…"

Cale exhaled, and anxiously looked up to Katharine.

"Colors?" Katharine asked calmly.

Arabella was about to reply, but Cale spoke first. "I gave her the memory of the sunset on the Pacific. You know, the one with the red and blue. I gave it to her…"

Katharine turned to look at Cale, then back at Arabella. "I will need to discuss this with Cale. You had better go Arabella."

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Thanks for reading!! I hoped you like it and will take the time to review. I am 100% sure the next chapter will be from Stella's perspective which will change things up a bit. Stella is still taking the pills for emotion control which will make her chapter quite interesting. I have been using the full extent of my vocab (not literally. I know MORE words than the ones used in this story of course) for Arabella and Cale's perspective, but Stella will be more limiting...not that you guys will probably care.

I sincerely hope you guys will take the time to review. Thanks to call me and mychemicalromance195 for reviewing!!!

Thanks,  
Marionettes


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Stella watched Arabella walk across the Recreation Center's field. Her assignment, Speaker, was fairly straightforward. After about a month of training, she had it down. She knew her mother and father were proud, and her Eleven-year-old brother Bryce. Now that she had her assignment training done, she had lots of days off. She and her mentor, Faye, alternated days for Speaking. So every other day, she could do whatever she pleased. She often went to the Nurturing Center or the House of Old. She had volunteered at the Recreation Center a few times too.

"Hey Stella," Arabella said. Stella smiled. Arabella was a nice, thoughtful girl.

"Hi Arabella."

Arabella smiled and looked as if she was going to say something, but stopped herself. Stella smiled back, expecting her to say something…but she didn't. They stood there silently, then Arabella excused herself and walked off muttering something to herself. Stella sighed. She had always tried to be nice to Arabella being she was a friend to Mother and all…but when it came to it, Arabella was always uneager to talk with her.

"Hey Stella," Ava smiled. Stella smiled back. She and Ava vaguely knew each other. Stella had often done hours by herself or with Isaac. Only a few months ago had she been friends with Cale. She wasn't unsocial, just preferred not to connect with her other group mates. She and Jordyn, the current speaker, got along quite well.

"Hi Ava," Stella replied, smiling weakly. She wasn't quite sure what to say. Kate, one of Ava's friends, walked up and greeted her.

"We were going to do some community hours at the Rehabilitation Center. We were wondering if you'd want to come…we couldn't find Arabella…and I don't think I've done that many community hours with you," Kate explained after a pause.

Stella beamed, and nodded her head, mounting her bike. The Rehabilitation Center wasn't far away, but she didn't feel like leaving her bike in the port. Just two days ago had a Ten accidentally bumped into the back of her bike and dented it. It had been at the Department of Bicycle Repair and been returned to her this morning.

"You're taking you bike?" Ava inquired. Stella explained about her bike, and Ava said, "How did you find the Department of Bicycle Repair? Last I heard it was located in the basement of the Childcare Center!"

Kate laughed and Stella smiled. She actually hadn't found it. A laborer picked up her bicycle and brought it to the building, and then returned it silently. She told so to Ava, and she laughed. Stella wasn't quite aware about what was funny, and asked Ava about it. She just laughed and never answered Stella's question.

"Hi girls. Are you here for community hours?" the attendant greeted with liveliness. Ava smiled and nodded. The attendant pointed to the sheet with the list of names for community hours. "Hhmh…would you go to the Mess Hall? Its about the patients' midday meal time…I'm sure you'll be busy. If you run out of work, just come on back."

"Thanks," Kate smiled and gestured for Stella and Ava to follow. Ava and Kate were nice to her. The two hours of the midday meal rush went over quickly. When they left the mess hall to get another place to work, Stella decided to find Cale. Ava and Kate said good-bye and said they had a fun time. She knew she had enjoyed herself.

Stella poked around the entrance of the Annex, planning to find Cale. Instead, she found Arabella.

"Oh, hi Stella. Didn't expect to find you here," she smiled. Stella smiled in reply.

"Hi Arabella. I was looking for Cale. Have you seen him?"

"Why are you looking for Cale?" she asked.

"We're friends…" Stella trailed off.

Arabella gazed at her for a moment, then blurted out, "Do you have something against me?"

Stella froze, then waited for an apology.

Arabella seemed to wait for an answer, then realized something, and apologized. Stella replied the formal apology-accepted phrase. Arabella sighed, then walked away. Stella was confused. What had Arabella's assignment done to her? She recalled the time before…she hadn't been like this.

"Stella?" Cale said as he exited the Annex. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to look for you," she said, giggling. "Arabella was just here…I think she was looking for you…"

"Oh…I'll find her later. Why are you here?" Cale said curiously.

"Oh, just to say hi. I haven't seen you for a while…you're always so busy with training!" Stella explained.

Cale nodded and smiled at her. After a while, the smile turned into a frown and his brow furrowed. He was thinking about something. "Stella, do you mind if I ask a question…that is personal?"

Stella hesitated…why was he putting her on the spot? Did he know how uncomfortable she was. But she swallowed the feeling down, and nodded her head.

"Do you take the pills for the Stirrings?" Cale asked quietly. Stella nodded hesitantly. "I think you should stop taking them."

Cale glanced at her one more time, then walked away. He offered no explanation. Stella stood there speechless, stunned. He was breaking a rule! Cale! That was not the Cale Stella knew…the one who broke community rules.

* * *

I'm betting you're all wondering why I called this story Anarchy. Well, thats going to be revealed in the NEXT CHAPTER!!!!! Its written from Cale's POV and I am currently considering a 4th main character which, if it turns out correctly, will be VERY different from Cale, Arabella and Stella...and ALL of the community characters. If you have name suggestions, I'd love to hear 'em. And its a HE. So guy names please. :)

Thanks for reading,  
Marionettes


	10. Chapter 10

The centered text tells you who's POV (point of view if you didn't know) it is from. It switches about midway between Cale and Arabella  


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Chapter 10

_Cale_

Cale wasn't sure why he had asked Stella to stop taking the pills. Maybe because they suppressed true emotions…and everyone deserved to have these marvelous, deep emotions; even the bad ones. He couldn't have one without the other. How would he knew what a gift it was to have love and faith and compassion without having the extremities: hate, loneliness and cruelty.

Even the pain and the devastation and corruption from the old world gave him deep gratitude. Katharine withheld no more memories from him. He had a bit of everything. He had the colors, the music, the war, the pain and the love. The choices. All of the choices they had. It was unfair.

Secretly, he had given a tiny bit of everything to Arabella. After all, Katharine hadn't said he couldn't, just that he was to tell no one of what had happened not that he couldn't do it again. Not that he wanted to relive the wars and the pain. That was the one thing he hadn't given to Arabella: the war. She was familiar with pain, but war was a concept he refused to put down upon her.

"Katharine," Cale asked his mentor one morning. "I was just thinking back to Thomas..."

"Don't let the dismal flaws of human kind spoil you're life. I often find misery a most uncomfortable place to dwell. Immaturity and oblivion are much more…joyous," Katharine told him.

"Yes, yes I understand…but I was wondering about where they made the drugs," Cale explained. Katharine fell silent and suddenly refused to meet his eye. Cale guessed she knew about it.

"There are manufacturing plants for almost all of the things we have: the paper, the pencils, the Rehabilitation Center's equipment. They're all made at three manufacturing plants outside of the community," Katharine told him. That wasn't so bad, Cale thought. Why would she be ashamed to tell him that?

"Do they make the syringes at one of them?" Cale persisted.

"No. There is a fourth. Average Laborers don't work there. It's top-secret. Only with those of the highest credentials are aware of it," Katharine said faintly, looking away with that distant, spaced-out look.

"Do we fall into that category?" Cale asked. Katharine gave a curt nod then stood up and began to pace the room. It was unusual behavior. "Where is the manufacturing plant?"

"I don't know. There has never been a need for me to know," Katharine replied unsteadily. A moment passed, and she said, "Oh Cale, there is something I would like to show you. It's about a…"

Katharine never came back to the subject. It wasn't as if he had asked her about it and she had denied all knowledge, but she always just hedged the questions he asked. So very carefully, he had arranged a little field trip without Katharine's knowledge. He had considered taking Arabella and Stella…but then they would ask questions about why they came. He knew that Arabella would be less suspicious, but Stella would be odd as she was just the Speaker-in-training. Arabella was the Assistant Director of the Department of Justice so it was unlikely they'd pry.

It had almost been a year since his Ceremony of Twelve, and he wanted to be there when Tanya became an Eight…but Eight wasn't a particularly important year. Nine would be important. She would get her bike…but Eight. Not that important. So he planned is field trip about a week after the Ceremonies.

_Arabella_

The Ceremonies in December were not as interesting as they used to be. As the younger child in their family unit, she had none to watch. Evan had moved out of their house to the Childless Adults building and was planning to apply for a spouse. Arabella hadn't seen him since he left. She knew that in the past, family kept in contact…but not she and Evan. It would be weird for him if she came to visit.

"How old is Tanya now?" Arabella inquired during the midday meal break during the first day of ceremonies.

"She's becoming an Eight," Cale replied. "Started community hours last year…nothing new this year. Next year she gets her bike though."

Arabella nodded. "Evan just moved to the Childless Adults building. I wish the Committee would let Mother and Father receive another child…but it's against the rules…"

Cale nodded. "It would be fun to have a newchild in the house. I should mention it to Katharine. Maybe we could get it changed."

Arabella was about to laugh, but considered it for a moment. Maybe Katharine and Cale could get it changed. They were both held in high regard…maybe it would be changed. Cale had repeated told her that they had honor but no power.

"I'd like that," Arabella replied.

Cale nodded, suddenly appearing to be deep in thought. After a few moments, he said, "Have you ever thought about where they made the syringes used in Release?"

Arabella shrugged, trying to ignore the sudden change of topic.

"Katharine told me there was a manufacturing plant outside of the community. I'm going to tour there tomorrow…I was wondering if you'd like to come…since you know about the past and all…" Cale asked.

"Sure. Will it interrupt my training?" Arabella replied, smiling.

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_Hope you liked it and will review...even if you __didn't _like it!!! Thanks for reading, and the next few chapters will hopefully become more interesting!!!!

Sincerely,  
Marionettes


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

"I don't see why he is insisted upon this," Cynthia complained as she sighed the paper releasing her from that day of Training. "But I suppose it may benefit you in some case or something. Enjoy yourself Arabella."

Cynthia and herself had finally come to an agreeable relationship. Cynthia planned to retire once Arabella was done with her and Arabella only had to tolerate her until Training was done. The less she complained, the more training she got and the sooner Cynthia would be gone. She hated to be cynical about her, but she couldn't help it. She was well aware about all the other things she could be frustrated about from the past, but Cynthia just made her seethe inside.

"Thanks so much," Arabella said as she took the paper and raced out the door to find Cale. He was, of course, patiently waiting for her at the Departure Center with a car ready for them to leave. "Hi. When do you think we'll be back…I'm under the impression that Cynthia wants me to train more often."

"I apologize for occupying your time," Cale laughed.

"I accept your apology. Feel free to occupy it whenever you like," Arabella replied smiling.

"We'd better leave now if you expect to be there by noon," the driver informed them. Cale nodded and gestured for Arabella to get in. The driver, Chad, quickly explained the routine precautions and the logistics. The drive would only be fifteen minutes, possibly twenty if the plant was busy which was unlikely.

"So why are you going to this plant?" Chad asked.

"Training purposes."

"There's got to be more to it than that!" he insisted.

"Confidential I'm afraid," Cale replied evenly. It wasn't, really, but it wasn't as if he could share the reason they were going was to figure out how to destroy the plant. Cale was now used to lying. He had picked the Releasing syringe manufacturing plant because of the process of the Release and the immoral was that Thomas had been murdered…no, killed. He had even met the nurse who had done it, her name was Lily She didn't seem to be aware what she had really been doing, poor woman.

He could hear Chad sigh. He was probably used to confidential work. He was a driver, and a seemingly intelligent one at that. He could have been selected for a much higher Assignment. The way Arabella was talking with him, he seemed to be much perceptive than his job allowed. The odd thing was he didn't appear to be dissatisfied with his Assignment…

"…oh yes. The Chief Elder takes lots of confidential drives to miscellaneous places," Chad was saying. "So does the Reciever, and the Director of the Department of Justice…almost the head of every department visit places quite frequently."

"Curious. I've never seen Cynthia leave for a visit or anything," Arabella remarked.

"Cynthia?" Chad asked.

"She's the Director of the Department of Justice. I'm the Assistant Director," Arabella explained. "And Cale is the Reciever-in-training."

"The Reciever is a very nice woman," Chad told Cale. He nodded. "Looks like we're here. I'll be waiting here. The Chief Elder expects you to be back by 4 pm."

"Thanks for the ride, Chad," Arabella said as she got out of the car. Cale waved good-bye and turned towards the manufacturing plant. There was an attendant assigned to provide a detailed tour of the plant, a quick tour. The laborers were obviously uneasy and Cale didn't want to take too long.

"These are the syringes ready to be shipped," the attendant finally concluded, gesturing towards an opened box filled with the fatal liquids.

"Can I take one as a souvenir?" Cale asked sarcastically.

The attendant laughed, and shook his head. "We were asked to provide with you a map of the place so if you wish to come back, you can get around without an attendant."

Cale took the map and looked at it. It was fairly straight forward. There was a board room for important people like Cale or the Chief Elder to come to talk about things and a large room for actual manufacturing, a Departure Port for the product to be sent to various communities in the local area, including his own.

"Thanks," Arabella said as she turned to leave.

Cale grabbed her arm to stop her and whispered, "We need to talk. Here is a good place to do it." Arabella hesitated and looked at him then returned to stand at his side again. "Is there a private room we can talk in?"

The attendant showed them to a small conference room.

"Why aren't we leaving? The sooner we get back, the sooner-" Arabella demanded, not angry but not pleased.

"I want to close down this plant," Cale said bluntly. "Will you help? I plan to talk to Stella about it…so don't say anything to her."

"How? And why would you ask Stella?" Arabella asked in a more gentle, soft tone.

"I haven't thought about the how…" Cale replied, "And why not ask Stella? She's nice. Smart-"

"Oh don't flatter yourself Cale!" Arabella interrupted. "I apologize-"

"Don't apologize. I will not live in this…dystopian society they've created for us! I will not! I refuse!" Cale snapped impatiently. He paused a moment, thinking; and then smiled and told her, "You think I like her more than yourself, don't you? You don't want her to help because you think-"

"What a…what a foolish idea! Yes, I do know what the past was like…with all those…open relationships, but I am certainly not a victim of one!" Arabella interrupted. Arabella looked down and then looked away, refusing to meet his eye, "Cale, I-"

"It's fine. Fine. I won't ask her to help us," Cale whispered, defeated. Arabella still refused to meet his eye by the time they got into the car. Chad was trying to unsuccessfully cheer them up and Cale was comforted at his kindness and thoughtfulness but he still couldn't accept Arabella's outrage. She was not often angry. She was more timid and thoughtful, more considerate of what other people wanted.

Stella and Arabella never had really gotten along to begin with. Why had I picked Arabella and not Stella? How could I have possibly been so oblivious? She was obviously the one. Maybe I will mention that idea of Cale's…maybe I can find the right one…maybe it isn't Stella or Arabella…maybe I was right…


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

_"Byron?" the Director of the Childcare & Development Program summoned, called CDP for short, "Byron, we need to speak to you privately."_

_"Sure," Byron said, leaving the newchild with his assistant, Milo._

_"Its about Newchild 13…" the Director trailed off, appearing troubled and at a loss for words._

_"The fragile one?" Byron confirmed. The Director nodded. He had been afraid of this…the newchild had very unstable sleeping patterns and often refused to play and do the developmental activities that were designed to build muscle and such. He had gone to extra lengths to try to help it but it never seem to take on. "You're not planning on releasing her, are you?"_

_"No, no, absolutely not. You won't need to worry about that. We think you are the right person to give it private nurturing. It's a new technique that we've been developing that we think will help it. It will be around the clock, your assistant will be transferred to someone else to complete his training and we'll assign a night-crew nurturer to take care of her at night. If it pulls through, we'll start actively using this procedure and quite possible prevent future, needless releases," the Director explained. He disliked how the Director called the newchildren "it". They were girls and boys, not "it's"._

_He considered that for a moment. He would have one-on-one time with her for twelve hours of the day…he didn't have a spouse, but he had applied, and he didn't have too many friends that would miss he if she went into social solitude with this newchild doing what he loved most._

_

* * *

  
Cale hadn't spoken to Arabella since their fight at the plant. He had, however, talked to Chad after the argument. Chad had tracked Cale down to talk with him. He had politely seeked him for clarification about their fight and if they were still talking to them afterwards. Cale had assured him they were on good terms and were fine._

He was surprised that Chad had taken it so smoothly. Fighting was usually treated with strict chastisement by any adult nearby. Maybe Chad had sensed that they were "above it"…or maybe just to timid to challenge two very prominent citizens-in-training. It was possible.

"So what happened?" Stella insisted. Cale shrugged. "Don't give me that! Something obviously happened. Neither of you will tell me what happened and it's quite unsettling!"

"Unsettling?" Cale asked, surprised at her vocabulary.

"Is it wrong usage?" she asked, slightly embarrassed.

"No, no…I've just never heard you use that kind of stuff…Arabella usually talks like that…" Cale explained slowly. Stella had her usual inquisitive, gentle expression. Cale finally saw all of the color all the time and could see people blush and such. Stella was.

"Oh."

Cale grinned and looked away. He knew he had promised to not talk to Stella about his plans…and now that Arabella wasn't talking to him…

"Stella, I was wondering if you'd like to…help me," Cale said softly, he didn't think she heard him.

* * *

Arabella was trying to apologize to Cale, but he had been refusing to talk to him. That was a lie. He had just been spending more time with Stella and she couldn't apologize if Stella was there. She had to talk to him alone and since he was never alone, she'd have to wait for him to come to her, which was certainly not going to happen anytime soon.

In the end, she had written him a note and had given to Katharine, and hoped that she wouldn't read it and just deliver it as she asked. She wasn't sure if he had read it and had kept in mind that Cale sometimes skipped training if Katharine was ill or otherwise.

Waiting was the worst part. The community was given vaccinations yearly. They weren't particularly painful, but she remembered when she was younger the anticipation was terrifying…not _real_ terror, but rather, frightened. Almost all emotions seemed to be amplified through a child's eyes. She could almost pity them. But they were also at rest, she reasoned. They feared some of the simplest things in life, like the dark. She, on the other hand, feared human destruction of the past, much more scary than the past.

"Arabella?" she perked at her name. It was Chad. "Hi. I was just wondering if you and Cale had been talking…"

"Is that a question?" Arabella asked.

"Only if you'll answer," Chad replied.

She sighed. "Not really. I send him an apology through Katharine…I don't think he got it.

"Stella and I are rather concerned about what might have passed through you two," he explained carefully. Arabella was touched at his consideration, but refused to try to talk to Cale. She had been the gentleman and sent a note and _tried_ to talk to him. Cale had disregarded her note and been avoiding her. It was maddening. "I'll go find him. Don't go anywhere please."

Arabella grimaced. This was not what she had planned. Although it wasn't a bad idea on Chad's part. So Arabella waited patiently for him to return with Cale, and hopefully _not_ Stella. She didn't mean to be sneering about it, but it was inevitable…it wasn't really, but she felt like it was.

"Hi," Cale mumbled. She hadn't even seen him come up. "I asked Stella if she'd help us."

Arabella wasn't quite surprised, but still shocked. How dare he! He knew she didn't want him to. Betrayal wasn't lightly taken...still, Arabella couldn't believe he had talked to Stella about it. Maybe she had known he would. Sure, his girl had left him so he had to find another, a reasonable explanation.

* * *

_Byron didn't feel like the family they had chosen for Bella was right…he had guiltily peeked at her name. Calling the newchild at such a personal atmosphere didn't feel right. He liked Bella's name, and wished she had been given to him and Candice, his spouse. He had diligently taken care of Bella, and successfully applied for a spouse in spare time which there wasn't a lot of. He had known Candice vaguely before hand, but now that they lived together, he really enjoyed her company when he had the occasional day off. They had already gone through the monitoring for them and they were planning to get a newchild, but he hadn't taken the time to look._

_Bella was sleeping and he figured now wouldn't be a bad time to looked. He notified an attendant and rushed to the office, wanting to be there when she woke up. He skimmed down the list, many of the newchildren unfamiliar to him. He saw it, Newchild 12, Cale. He was unfamiliar with this newchild, but he was sure he would be a delight to raise._

* * *

Thanks for reading!!! This chapter was slightly different from the others, having about 500 words written from the past, about half. Byron is Cale's father which adds to some stuff. Just to let you know, Cale is unaware that Byron took care of Arabella as a child. And just saying, no one will be calling Arabella, "Bella" at all. I despise this nickname, especially after Twilight.

Hope you enjoyed,  
Marionettes


	13. Chapter 13

**Note: The italics is not nessecary to read, so if you REALLY DON'T WANT TO, you can skip over it...but I don't advise it because it'll be at the beginning of the next few chapters...**

_Chapter 13_

_Byron was sad to see Bella leave and he had taken the courtesy to meet her new family and talk with them. They would hopefully give Bella a good home. They already had a son, Evan, who was not high on the intelligence scale, but there was room to grow. He would live a happy life, Byron was sure. Bella would live a better life, he hoped. He had grown dangerously attached to the child, he had been hoping that the Director wouldn't notice. If only he and Candice could receive her as a newchild!_

_"Please prepare the newchildren for the Ceremony," a voice came over the loudspeaker. Bella was already ready, and Byron would have these last moments to play with her. Any other Nurturer applying for children this round would most likely be with the children they would eventually end up with getting to know them, but not he. He spent his last moments with Newchild 13, a special newchild being sent to a family unit that would raise her until she was an Adult, a childless one at that, and spouseless. What kind of spouse would she have? What kind of Assignment would she receive? What kind of person would she become?_

_"Hey Byron," Candice smiled. "Do you know which one is ours?"_

_"I peeked at the list ahead of time, Newchild 12, his name is Cale," Byron replied, flushing with embarrassment. Candice was in the Department of Justice, but it was a minor transgression. "I spent a little time with him, he's a great newchild."_

_"That's wonderful Byron!" Candice exclaimed, blowing off the fact that he had broken a rule, even though it was a small one. The Chief Elder walked on stage and the crowd immediately fell silent. Night-crew nurturers walked on stage with the newchildren and she gave a short introduction as the announcer came onstage, looking over a piece of paper. Then they started calling out names. The backstage of the amphitheatre was small, and there was hardly room for the 130-some people back there. They were already in order and the line was beginning to shift towards the stage. He would have started to talk to the couple behind them, Claudia and Louis, who would receive Bella. If only they knew how lucky they were. _

_At last, it was his and Candice's turn to receive their Newchild, Cale. "Number 12, Cale."_

_The nurturer handed the newchild over and left in a rushed fashion. It was the day of the Ceremonies, who was in a rush on the day of the Ceremonies? They were rushed offstage and Byron looked back, Bella was reaching out to him, trying to walk towards him. He would have waved, but it wasn't appropriate for the moment. He just smiled at her and looked back to Cale._

_The rest of the ceremony proceeded well. This year's Thirteen's were promising. There were many doctors, many engineers and not too many laborers or birthmothers. A good year. Of course, these types of Assignments were unfortunately required to maintain the community. Claudia was a birthmother if he recalled. He tried to remember what Louis' assignment had been, but he didn't remember if he had mentioned it. Claudia was quite frank about it, and seemingly proud of it. He would ask about it later. Of course, they may not be a later now that they had a newchild to take care of and would be presumably spend more time with Bella._

_It had been nine years since Byron had seen Bella. Cale said that she was going to be hanging around much more, maybe he would have a chance to see her. Tanya knew her already, and was quite the admirer. Cale and Bella were friends and got along quite well from the looks of it…but recently, there was less and less talk of her at the table._

_"…you can meet my Father, he's really cool. You'll like him," Cale was saying. Byron could hear his son's steps on the door. "Father! Arabella is here!"_

_"Coming, be there in a minute," Byron told him._

_"I apologize for being impatient," Cale added._

_"I accept your apology," Byron said when he opened the door to "meet" Bella. "Hi Bella."_

_"Most people call me Arabella," she said uncomfortable. He should have known that. Cale had always called her Arabella at the table, but he still clung on to her name as a newchild, Bella. He wondered if Claudia and Louis had ever called her Bella as a child…_

_"He's a nurturer…he could have taken care of you as a newchild!" Cale laughed and Arabella smiled._

_"Speaking of which, I probably should go find the Director…he was looking for me earlier," Byron said, thinking. He had been looking him concerning another newchild that they wanted him to nurture in solitude. "A delight to meet you Arabella. I'm sure we'll have more time to get personal, but a new procedure has come up and have to help. Don't forget to do you homework, Cale."_

_"Good-bye sir," Arabella smiled._

Cale had finally developed their plans to put an end to the releasing liquids and shared it with Stella…as well as Chad. Arabella saw no reason to share it with the two. With more people, there were more places for communication to be shaky and more places for error. But Cale insisted so she went along with it.

"Do you know if Chad has a spouse?" Arabella asked him, out of curiosity.

"I don't think so. He's in the Childless Adults housing, but he's only a few years older than us," Cale said doubtfully. "Why?"

"Just popped into my head. Random thinking hasn't been outlawed yet, you know," Arabella said defensively. Cale laughed and shook his head.

"You know, you could easily have been the Reciever," Cale sighed.

"Too bad there can't be two," Arabella said wistfully.

"Hey, I just this memory about a celebration they called weddings, want me to share?" Cale said suddenly. Arabella shrugged and laid down on the bench. There wasn't anyone watching so it was okay for Cale to put his hand on her back.

"How are you going to get a hand grenade, Cale?" Arabella demanded when they were talking with Chad and Stella about the final details. "I don't understand how you got so devious and…deceitful! When did What this happen? happened to my Cale, my curious lovable Cale?"

Stella raised her eyebrow in question, and Cale sighed. "The memories change people. I'm a more mature Cale, but nothing stopping my curiosity or my ability to love you."

"Anyways, try to stay on track you two," Chad declared. Arabella nodded and Cale sighed again. He seemed much more tired nowadays.

"The hand grenades are from a friend…in a different community," Cale said. "His name is Gabriel. I'll introduce you to him later."

"So will one…grenade destroy the whole place?" Chad asked curioiusly. They obviously didn't understand the meaning. They were going to kill people. People would really die. Cale explained to Stella and Chad how these were different. They weren't just aimed to kill one person with sparks, but there were going to throw them at oil that was stored in the main room. Hopefully, it would burn the whole place. They didn't want to kill anyone, but just to destroy the plant. Arabella knew that Cale was well aware that a few people would die, and he seemed to be okay with that. Again, he had grown deceitful and dev Cale ious…and just more mature. It almost scared her.

* * *

I'd love to hear what you guys think about Byron's story. The other thing I have to say is that I'm going to make a character index because I keep forgetting what I named Cale's mother or how old Tanya is of what Evan's Assignment is and miscellaneous things like that...so the next chapter is NOT going to be a chapter...just a list of names and Assignments and stuff like that.

Also, I have been mentally debating if Arabella and should kiss...so thats up for discussion. So if someone cares to comment, you can PM me or just write it in a review...

Thanks so much for reading!!!  
Marionettes


	14. Character Index

**CHARACTER INDEX  
Listed in order of appearance or reference **

Arabella (Asst. Director of the Dept. of Justice)

Evan (Arabella's older brother, Laborer)

Kate (Arabella's friend, Doctor)

Isaac (Arabella's friend, Nurturer)

Claudia (Introduced as "Mother", Arabella's adoptive mother) (Birthmother, Fish Hatchery laborer)

Louis (Introduced as "Father", Arabella's adoptive father)

Margaret (Acquaintance of Claudia's)

Cale (Reciever-in-training)

Ava (Arabella's friend, _____________)

Clayr (Arabella's friend, Instructor of Elevens)

Ian (Ava's friend)

Jonas (Katharine's friend)

Katharine (The Giver/Reciever)

Tanya (7/8, Cale's younger sister)

Candice (Introduced as "Mother", Cale's adoptive mother (Judge the Dept. of Justice)

Byron (Introduced as "Father", Cale's adoptive father) (Arabella's Nurturer)

___________ (The previous Giver)

Lucas (Ava's younger brother)

Griffin (Arabella's peer)

Stella (Cale's friend, Speaker-in-training)

Elias (Arabella's peer)

Alexander (Stella's father, Caretaker of the Old)

Cynthia (Byron's older sister, Director of the Dept. of Justice)

Thomas (___________ [job])

Jordyn (Speaker, friend of Stella[?])

Chad (Cale's friend, laborer)

Milo (Byron's Asst. Nurturer in the past, Nurturer)

* * *

Anywhere where there is a blank is where I don't have the answer where I _should _have the answer. Also, if anyone has a fate for Milo, it would be greatly appreciated. :)

Thanks for reading...though you really didn't have to. This is purely reference!!!  
Marionettes


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

_Byron wasn't sure if Cale would bring Bella back, but he was eager to speak with her. See what kind of woman she would become. He was particularly eager for December, not just because of Cale but also for Bella. He felt more close to her than his own son, not to mention his daughter. He did have a wonderful family, Candice, Cale and Tanya…but Arabella was something more. She had that glimmer light in her eyes and that thirst for knowledge, and that subborness. He was always curious to see what would happen if he told Bella that he had been her one-on-one nurturer._

_He would speak to the Director about it._

"It's perfectly planned," Chad finally declared after reviewing the plan one last, final time. Stella had not contributed much, like Arabella had expected, but he didn't want to admit that. Arabella had been helpful but it was surprisingly Chad who had really pulled their plans from simple guesswork and immaterial thoughts to real plans. He knew lots about the actual plant, its inner workings; he could draw the blueprints up for them too.

Cale was quite aware about how many rules they were breaking. But really, many of the major things that they were doing were not being questions. There were not rules against destroying Community facilities. They just assumed no one would ever even consider doing it, as everyone was so tame and controlled. They couldn't even imagine all the possibilities. Cale had continued to share his training with Arabella and he still found her a strong confidant.

"So when do you think we, Arabella and I, should return?" Cale asked. "A week maybe? I'll have to do the poking around, then the being seen with you in public…and then after that…we can just go."

"I'd say…nine days. We don't want to rush it. Do you have a lot more training in front of you?" Chad asked. Cale had tried to give him some of his memories of the music, the colors, and most importantly, the past, but it never seemed to work. Instead, he had talked to Chad about it, endlessly. And Arabella helped too. Cale had always wondered what would have happened if Arabella had become the Reciever instead…or even both of them. Both of them received well and were well suited to the assignment…so why hadn't it happened. If there had been three of them in training, wouldn't it have been easier? He wondered if the Elders had considered it…probably not. They weren't too eager on new, different thinking.

"Nine days…I have a conference…can we push it to ten?" Arabella asked, thinking. She had become increasingly busy and Cale knew that she was afraid to ask Cynthia for time off. He didn't blame her.

"I suppose so...will that work for you Cale?" Chad asked. Cale nodded. "Stella?"

"Yeah. I don't have much planned except during training. If its outside of my training hours, then I'll be fine," Stella told them.

"Same for me," Cale told Chad.

"Okay…well, I'll ask my Director for a long day in nine days and you'll have to talk to Gabriel soon. Maybe…five days. You can take a field trip," Chad said.

"Who's Gabriel?" Stella asked. Cale sighed, they had explained to Stella that Gabriel was an out-of-community friend many times, too many. "Never mind."

"Do you want me to drive you?"

"A personal chauffer, I like it," Cale smiled. Arabella returned his smile because Chad and Stella didn't know what a chauffer and Cale didn't feel like explaining. Arabella didn't seem to want to either. He couldn't blame her. She was in the Department of Justice and wasn't too fond of breaking rules presumably. After all, she had already broken a bucketful of rules so why push her luck?

"Do you want Arabella or Stella to go with you?" Chad inquired. Cale would have said he wanted to take Arabella…but he knew Stella would be jealous and if he took Stella, Arabella would be jealous. But he really liked Arabella's company as well as Stella.

"Maybe Arabella. It'll look a bit more normal as she is with me a lot…" Cale trailed off. He couldn't believe he has just said that. Stella would be furious and when Cale looked to where she was just looking ahead blankly. Not focusing on anything.

"Excuse me for a moment," Stella whispered and hurried walked away.

"Why did you do that Cale?" Arabella demanded quietly, trying not to draw more attention to them after Stella stormed away.

"Do you not want to go with me?" Cale asked. Arabella sighed and looked away, not answering his question.

"Erm…you can sort that out later Cale," Chad said quietly. Arabella still refused to meet Cale's eye as they continued to plan. Cale wanted to say that they were planning faster, not having to explain everything to Stella, but she had understood the last few details without much need of explanation. "We really need to fine-tune this. We all could get released if we are discovered."

Cale almost laughed aloud. That was not the most severe consequence. They walked through the plan one last time and then all went their own ways. Chad returned to the Childless Adults housing facilities and Cale went to look for Stella. He wasn't sure where Arabella went.

"Stella?" Cale called. Again, no answer. He was tempted to go to Katharine's house then decided not to. Stella might hint to Katharine or even Alexander ((CHECK CI)) about what they were planning on doing. That would be catastrophic. He would have to find her elsewhere. "Stella!"

"Cale!" a woman of medium height and wavy brown hair with cream-colored high-lights walked towards him. Of course, no one else knew that except Katharine and Arabella. Not that it really mattered. "I'm Jordyn ((CHECK CI)). Have you seen Stella? I can't find her anywhere. And she didn't come to the Broadcast Tower for training…"

"She was supposed to be in training right now?" Cale asked, astonished. "Does she have training hours this time every day?"

"More or less," Jordyn replied. Stella had sacrificed training hours and broken rules that could have gotten her released- killed –to plan this with them.

* * *

CI = Character Index for all of you people who didn't read it. I personally find it super helpful because I always forget what I named Cale's little sister or how I spelled Clayr, Claire, Clair, Clare or any other variation. (of course, I picked the most unusual spelling ever) Anyways, I hope you liked this story, and I hate to say it, but Stella's future isn't looking too bright unless someone other than "Call Us Crazy" begs and pleads because I know that "Call Us Crazy" will.

Thanks for reading (AND REVIEWING),  
Marionettes

Postscript: It would be nice to hear about what you guys think about Byron and "Bella". I've tried to answer a few of your questions in this chapter...I think I got most of them except for why Stella and Arabella don't like each other which will be revealed after....probably in Chapter 15 or 16 if I've got it planned correctly...


	16. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

_Present_

_"Absolutely not, Byron."_

_Byron sighed. They had denied it. How could they deny it? He decided he would tell Bella anyways. He just had to find the right time. He would talk to Cale about it. When he had finally taken the courage to talk to the Director, they had denied him._

_He remembered his language acquisition. He had learned about love. How obscure it was. Well, he understood it now. He knew what love was. It wasn't obscure. It was here. It was real and Byron was the only one knew it. He had to share it with someone. Who? He couldn't share this with his family during sharing of feelings. They wouldn't understand this feeling…this love. _

Arabella

"I need a list of all of the people released today, across the globe. From all communities please," Cale demanded. Arabella trembled. She'd never seen Cale so…livid. Of course, the rest of the community could only identify Cale's rage as anger but Arabella knew it was more.

"Lets see," the attendant said, standing up to go through a filing cabinet. She pulled out a single sheet of paper and handed it to Cale. Arabella had to stand on her tip-toes to see it as Cale had grown recently. "We don't have daily release lists, only weekly.

It read:

Week of May 3rd

Release List

Erica – OLD

2. Fitz – LAW

Jennine – OLD

Walter – OLD

Henrietta – REQUEST

Vincent – REQUEST **((hhmh...in Microsoft Word, there's a button that allows you to be able to cross things out...guess FanF doesn't support that...well, the "Request" part of his form was crossed out which basically means that it DIDN'T HAPPEN))**

Stella – REQUEST

Erick – OLD

Daniel – REQUEST

She had gotten a release. Arabella was shocked.

"Why is number 4's reason crossed out?" Cale asked. Arabella hadn't noticed. She skimmed down to number 4. It read "Vincent" and "Request", but the "Request" part had been scribbled out so it was barely legible. Odd.

"He decided against release at the last minute," the attendant replied. She didn't understand how lucky this man was, spared of death. Cale nodded, still relatively distant. Arabella couldn't blame him. A good friend of his, maybe more, had just committed suicide…or at least the equivalent in the community.

"Thank you," Cale muttered and walked away. "Do you know what they do with the bodies?"

"You could ask someone," Arabella said. "I don't really want to know."

"Well, you must be happy. You just successfully eliminated all rivals," he said bitterly. Arabella was stunned. She could have slapped him for that.

"You think that?" she demanded, completely outraged. She tried not to show it because the community would be shocked and she'd probably be released or something. She didn't think she was doing a great job. But at least she tried. "How could you possibly think that? How could you possibly jump to that conclusion? I may know what love and hate is, but I certainly don't…" She couldn't find the right words. Maybe they were hidden in a memory Cale hadn't shared with her.

"I didn't jump conclusions…you and Stella just…it just fit all of your…decisions. It was the explanation that fit, okay?" Cale snapped, completely ignoring the rest of the community and all the rules of rudeness and othersuch.

"Well, maybe Stella and I just don't get along and if you don't like me, I totally understand!" Arabella replied.

"So you admit it! You like me," Cale declared, triumphant. "I knew it."

Arabella could feel the blood rising to her cheeks and looked away. She could feel Cale gazing at her. She could feel herself wilting. Shriveling under his stare. Then he placed her hand on her chin and made her look at him. She refused to make eye contact, too afraid of what she would see. But maybe she didn't want the romance…would it mess up their plans?

Cale leaned in, Arabella was horrified, but didn't do anything to prevent him. But really, what if someone saw? Someone could walk by them and then they could get in serious trouble. For one thing, Cale was coddling her jaw and his other hand was on her waist which would defiantly _not_ be okay with the Committee of Elders…

"Cale!" Chad shouted. Cale immeadiatly snapped back, away from her, and looked towards Chad. Arabella let out a big breath, thankful that he had turned up. Perfect timing. "I wouldn't do that in public…"

"Sorry," Cale mumbled. Arabella could tell he didn't mean it.

"Yeah yeah. Anyways…actually…nothing. I just didn't think that you two should be kissing because it would draw a lot of attention," Chad smirked. Cale sighed and exasperated sigh.

"Stella got a release," Cale told him.

"Oh…I'm so sorry…I know what she meant to you…" Chad said, then immeadiatly cut off. Arabella gave Cale a told-you-so look and he stormed off. "That was the wrong thing to do Arabella."

"Yeah, I know. I just screw things up a lot with him," Arabella sighed, miserable, but not the misery from the past. This was more a shallow disappointment. Not true misery, Arabella reminded herself. "I'll go apologize. Stay here."

"Cale! Wait up! Please slow down!" Arabella called out as she pushed her bike to its speed capacity. He came to a grinding halt, she almost hit him. "Cale, listen, I'm really sorry. Chad is sorry. Everybody is really sorry."

"We were just friends Arabella. I'm not mad at you. I'm not mad at Chad. I just wish…I should have listened to your advice. I should have known that you were right. You always are," he said. The weariness in his voice was unmistakable.

"About not letting Stella in on the plan? I doubt she would have been any less…happy," Arabella tried to reassure him. "She would have probably been upset that we were excluding her. Then she'd probably report us, then the plan would have been ruined."

Cale considered that. Arabella took another deep breath, and said "Cale, listen, either way, I think that it would have ended in the same way…there was nothing you could have done…maybe it was just destined to happen…"

Cale went rigid. She knew she had said something wrong…but what? Everything she had said had been in his best interest…or so she thought. Cale took a breath, and reach a hand out. Arabella already cringed before his hand made contact with her cheek.

Still, she was still stunned that he had slapped her.

* * *

Boy is there a plot twist coming your way! It is going to get...very interesting. For anyone who was a big Stella fan, sorry...but...Cale's life seemed just a teeny bit too perfect. Anyways, PLEASE R&R. It is unbelievably helpful. The other thing is that I am going away so there will not be an update for about a month.

Thanks sooooooo much reading,  
Marionettes


	17. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

_"Sorry I never had the chance to teach you to bike," Willie apologized. Stella shrugged it off and mounted her bike. She was hoping she could bike amazingly even though he never taught her, but it was unlikely. Anyways, he was already gone. She would prove to him later, and her parents. They would be so proud of her._

_"Watch out! You're about to hit something!" someone shouted at her. Stella looked up at him and came crashing into someone's step and went flying forward. She hadn't been going that fast but maybe she had gotten used to the feel and accelerated. Regardless, she was flung forward and was caught on the bicycle rack beyond the concrete staircase. "Do you want me to notify your parents for medication?"_

_Stella gasped and nodded, a shot of pain pulsing through her right shoulder. The man hurried over and Stella could hear her parents run out to her attention. She heard two people, Willie and her Father. Her mother was probably working, like always. It was if she didn't exist, and only popped up for meals and for important days like December. She couldn't even remember her mother coming for a soccer game. Only her Father. Stella had been lectured over and over again about how her mother was the Reciever and didn't have a lot of freetime on her hands so she couldn't be with them, but they always told her that she wanted to be with them._

_"Are you okay Stella?" her father asked gently. "Someone is coming with a reliever-of-pain. It'll be fine. Do you think you broke a bone?"_

_"No, I'm fine. It just hurts," Stella replied shakily, trying to stand up. The man, really a boy, who had warned her was still there. "Thanks for warning me."_

_He shrugged, and said, "No problem. I only wish I had warned you earlier. I'm Vincent by the way."_

"You know he didn't mean it Arabella!" Chad shouted after her.

"Yeah? Well, you weren't there! You didn't see his expression! You didn't feel his hand on your cheek, I'm pretty sure he meant it," Arabella snapped. Chad sighed, obviously out of excuses. Arabella wished he had been right, that Cale hadn't meant it, but she was right. He hadn't been there. He hadn't felt it. He hadn't even seen it. How could he possibly know?

"Arabella! I need to speak with you, immediately," Arabella turned to look to see who it was as she didn't recognize the voice. It was Katharine, Stella's mother. Why hadn't she recognized the voice? Maybe she was too full of grief over her daughter. It was most likely that.

"Yes Katharine?"

"I was just informed that Stella had just applied for a release," Katharine said, the tension in her voice was apparent.

"I'm sorry. I haven't seen her since Cale was talking with her," she said innocently. Katharine looked disgusted and stormed off. She hadn't been aware that mother and adoptive-daughter were so close. She was well aware that if she was released, her family wouldn't be too upset. They would be upset, but nothing more than that. They felt no attachment to her. She didn't blame them. Attachment was not part of the world that they learned. Katharine on the other hand was all about it.

"Who's that?" Chad asked quietly.

"Katharine. She's the Reciever," Arabella answered.

"I see. Well, I'll be off," Chad said. Arabella nodded distantly. He walked a few paces, then turned back to her, "I'd talk to Cale if I were you. Sort it out. If you want to pull his plan off, you two need to be in working condition with each other."

"I know," Arabella sighed. She respected Chad. He knew what he was doing. He was just as intelligent as she was if not more. Why hadn't he been selected as Reciever those years ago instead of Cale? Maybe, some day after Katharine had forgiven her, Katharine would tell her. Tell her why they hadn't picked Chad, why they hadn't picked her, why they had picked Cale. She wasn't jealous, she didn't want to be the Reciever and two receivers would be unthinkable.

"Cale, we need to talk. If we want to pull this off, we have to be on good terms," Arabella said softly. Cale wouldn't meet her eyes but she knew he had already forgiven her.

"I know."

"So?"

"We're on good terms," Cale said plainly.

_Now Stella's gone and Arabella's my only chance. I was right from the beginning. Too bad Cale had to go through all the pain of her loss. He will get over it. I will forgive Arabella. Arabella will forgive Cale. All will be well…I hope._

_

* * *

This one is shorter. I don't know why. I hope the italics aren't getting too confusing, but basically, now there are three italic stories going on: Vincent/Stella, Byron and the unknown. More or less, all of them will affect the main story...I think. Or at least, it's been planned that way. Reviews are welcome (the secret meaning to that is REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW. And seriously, saying "that was great" isn't incredibly helpful. Are there any problems? Are there any inconsistencies? Am I drastically screwing up Lois Lowry's The Giver_? Stuff like that is appreciated). Also, adding my story(ies) to favorite list is also helpful, its called ADVERTISEMENT. Sorry, a sarcastic streak there.

Thanks for reading,  
Marionettes


	18. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

_"Stella," Stella told him._

_"Let me guess, you're a Nine?" Vincent said._

_"My brother actually followed the rules and never taught me to bike," she told him, he chuckled and offered her a hand. Stella took it, hobbling up. Her leg hurt, but it would soon go away after they arrived with the reliever-of-pain._

_"I have to go, but I'm sure I'll be seeing you around," Vincent told her, and then turned to walk in the opposite direction. He was tall, and carried himself with a certain grace, Stella noticed. She couldn't wait for the next day, or even that afternoon, because maybe she'd have another chance to talk with him. He didn't seem that much older so it wouldn't be awkward._

"You two are on good terms?" Chad asked. Cale nodded. Arabella didn't respond to the question and just stiffly sat down. "Good. We'll be able to talk with Gabriel and then go on further to the manufacturing plant if nothing goes wrong."

"Sounds good. What did we decide on the interval? Four days was it?" Cale said. Chad nodded. There was hardly anything else to say. Arabella refused to talk. Chad had everything laid out. There wasn't anything else to say. Nothing. "Why don't we just meet Gabriel now?"

Chad considered that. For a long time. The longest time. Arabella had no reaction. She was mentally blocking out everything but she'd have to stop that if she wanted to pull this off and she'd have to be nice to Gabriel. He hoped she realized that. She probably did. She wasn't stupid. Why was he doubting her? He had always had faith in her to make the right choices and to come up with the right conclusions. Why was he doubting her?

"We can. Do you want to go now Arabella?" Chad asked. She shrugged and got up, ready to leave. Chad threw a glance at Cale and looked back at Arabella. Was he doubting them? "Then lets go. No need to wait."

"How long will this take?" Arabella asked. Cale assured her that it wouldn't take a long time and Cale said that he'd need the transportation so Chad wouldn't have to be there. Cale took her to a housing development. Close to where Cale lived. They passed his house. His father was outside.

"Hey Cale," his father said. "Hey Bella. How are you guys? Don't you have training today?"

"It's Arabella, Father," Cale reminded him. He grinned and turned back into the house. "Sorry about that. I don't really know what he calls you Bella. I know you don't like it."

Arabella shrugged as she dismounted her bike after him. She followed him to the house next door he went up and knocked on the door.

"Vincent?" Cale sad. Arabella recognized the name. Vincent was the man who was going to get a release then turned it down the day Stella got her release. How did Cale know him?

"Cale?" someone appeared in the doorway. A boy probably a few years older them. "Hey Cale. You must be Arabella. He's talked a ton about you."

"Not about Stella?" Arabella asked sarcastically. Cale sighed.

"Hardly. That was more me," Vincent chuckled. "She was one of my very good friends. Almost more if she weren't head-over-heels for Cale. He stole her from me. And from life. But that's beyond us. Do you have means of transportation?"

"Wait, you're Gabriel?" Arabella demanded as the two men turned away.

"I'll explain it to you later. Don't worry, I'll have to explain it to Chad too," Cale assured her and mounted his bike and biked towards where they had left Chad. The ride normally only took seven to ten minutes, but Cale and Gabriel, or Vincent, pushed it up to three. They were in a hurry. Arabella could only guess about why.

"Chad?" Cale called. "Chad, we need you to drive now."

Chad walked towards them. He glanced at Vincent, or Gabriel, Arabella wasn't sure which to call him, and gestured for them to follow him. They walked to a barren area, just outside of the housing development. No one would see them there. As Arabella expected, there was a transportation vehicle waiting there for them. The four of them got in and Vincent, or Gabriel, began giving Chad directions for where they were going.

The ride was a forty-five minute ride and in dead silence, it seemed like forever. Finally they reached where they were going and they all got out of the car. Cale got out of the car with a huge smile on his face. Vincent, or Gabriel, gave him a told-you-so look and walked up to the man seated on the steps of what looked like a crude house, like the ones at the community but more scarce.

"Hello Gabriel," the man said.

"Cale, this is Jonas," Vincent, or Gabriel, said. "Jonas, this is Cale."

* * *

Yay! This chapter is super short. I know. If you are planning on reviewing (which all of you should), I have a question. Should Vincent/Gabriel be called Gabriel or Vincent? Because I get sick of Vincent, or Gabriel 24/7. I hope you like it and I hope all you will review!!

Thanks for reading and REVIEWING,  
Marionettes


	19. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

_Gabe had felt awful when Stella had decided to get a release. He could barely stop himself from telling her that it was a sure death. Who would walk straight into death's open arms? Embrace it? Apparently, Stella. Maybe Jonas had taught him to think that way. After all, the community knew no other world than this, other than Arabella and Cale. And Chad, or so Cale had told him. Remember, never trust anyone, Jonas' words echoed in his mind, for men lie and deceive._

_"Welcome back. I missed you. I told you I was right," Gabe whispered. "Stella…come back to me…"_

"Hello, Gabe has glowing reports about you," Jonas said warmly.

"Reports?" Arabella said suspiciously.

"Idiom. Blow it off," Gabriel said.

"Nice to meet you," Cale said, meaning it. He had his whole heart, and life for that matter, behind this plan. But he rationalized it that life wouldn't mean much anyways unless he made it worth while. Meaning he had to make settle things with Arabella and fix the community. It was a long shot, but why not. The community was easy, but convincing Arabella would take time…

"Cale?" Chad said cautiously.

"Sorry," Cale said, snapping back out of his little, peaceful world. "Well, I suppose you know why we're here, for the explosives. So…"

Jonas gave a questioning glance at Gabriel and he began to explain. Jonas had been the Reciever post-Katharine. Apparently, Jonas thought Gabriel had told them that. Another reason not to trust these people, Cale grimaced. The less they trusted Jonas and Gabriel the less chance they had of pulling off this feat. It still was a long shot, but now it was longer. Jonas had become interested in their cause mainly because of Cale, he figured. He was the next Reciever. If Jonas could penetrate that trust between the Reciever and the Committee of Elders, maybe he too would have a shot at getting revenge on the community. Together, they could pull it off.

Possibly.

All had been explained and when they left with these explosives, Arabella still felt hollow. Still tired. Still weary to the bone. She couldn't explain what it was. She was so drained she could hardly think about their plan or Cale or Stella or…anyone. She knew she should she just couldn't.

"Are you okay?" Chad asked when he pulled the vehicle to a stop. They had reached their destination. Finally back home, or rather the community. No longer home. No longer safe. She was vulnerable. Everywhere. She was thinking so irrationally. Why? She was frustrated with herself. It was infuriating.

"Yes. Fine," Arabella sighed and got out of the vehicle. Now, she was mentally hoping for them not to get caught with the bombs. But really, how many of them would have recognized them anyways? She looked at Chad, he seemed still concerned so she decided to lie. "I'm just worried about getting caught."

"They won't," Cale said confidently. She wasn't so sure. They had Chad carry it mostly because he probably would have carried it. Being they were explosive, she would have preferred she herself carry it but Cale didn't want her to for some reason. She was annoyed with his decision. Was he afraid she was going to drop it and kill them all? Hardly. In the fit she was in now, she probably would have dropped it from exhaustion or at least pegged one at him.

"So what now?" Chad asked when they reached the Annex, the only place where they dared to put the bombs. "What do we do now?"

"Wait I suppose," Cale said. She hated to just have the explosives sitting there but there wasn't anything else to do. Chad and Arabella agreed cautiously and went home for the night. It would be unusual if the three of them were gone for so long.

Instead of going back to her dwelling, no longer her home, went to go find Ava. She missed her old friends, but they seemed so insignificant compared to the other things she was doing with Cale and Chad. So many people had fallen from her life. Katharine, she hadn't seen the woman since…a while. Cale and Chad sucked up all of her time.

She slept soundly and she woke up ready to kill.

* * *

Sorry about the short chapter. Sorry about the time gap too. Too much school stuff. Anyways, I have decided to end Anarchy at 20 chapters instead of the original 24. That leaves one chapter for blowing stuff up and the other for the conclusion both of which will be longer than this one. I promise. By the way, if all of the text is centered, I apologize. My browser is not working correctly right now.

Thanks for reading and REVIEWING,  
Marionettes

Postscript: Thanks to all those people who have read my story from beginning to end. It really means a lot to me that people are reading my story and (hopefully) loving my characters as much as I do. :)


	20. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

_"Are you sure you're doing the right thing?" she asked shakily._

_"I hope so," he said uncertainly._

_"I don't' want to die."_

_"No one does," he replied gently._

_"Will I die?" she said._

_"Maybe. Too many variables," he said finally. "Good bye Stella."_

"I'm not ready Cale," Arabella whispered. She hadn't known what happened to that felling she had when she had woken up. It was surely gone now. She had been strong, steady, and confident until now. Not any more.

"You have to be, we've been preparing for this forever," Cale said, exasperated. "Has it suddenly hit your conscience about what we're going to do? Well, guess what? It's been on mine for about a week. We're murderers. Yes. Murderers."

Arabella gasped. She didn't want to her this. Why was he doing this to her? This was the last thing she wanted to be told, that they were murderers. They weren't. They were just bright young children then were trying to make a difference. How could that make them killers?

Where was Chad? Why wasn't he saying anything in their defense? It wasn't as if they were truly experiencing life to the fullest _anyways_! So really, it wasn't murder, she said to herself. She told herself so over and over again, trying to convince herself.

"We're here," Chad said at last. Arabella could have sworn it echoed, but they were in a fabricated car. Cale got out of the car and picked up the bag in the trunk of the car that contained the explosives. Arabella was scared.

"Cale, I don't think I can do this," Arabella said, almost on the verge of crying. She saw Cale step forward to comfort her out of out of the corner of her eye, but then saw Chad stop him. Why would he do that? She needed that comfort! Then she saw Cale nod, as if he understood. The whole world was turning on her.

Furious, she yanked the case of explosives from Cale's hands and raced by herself to the plant shoved the unknowing guard over and burst through the door, finally ready to do what she had to.

"Arabella!" Cale yelled after her. He started to run after her but was stopped by Chad. "What are you doing? She's going to kill herself!"

"And you if you follow!" Chad snapped. "We have to pull through if you want this to work Cale! What happened to that determined, self-confident-"

"No time to argue!" someone else shouted, it sounded like Gabe. What were Gabe and Jonas doing here? "Hurry up! We have to get Arabella before she sets the bombs off!"

"Too late," Chad said. Cale's head snapped to the plant just to see the plant go up in flames and one person running out of the building. It was a girl, but was it Arabella? Cale couldn't see. He could feel his heart racing. The adrenaline pumping through his veins made his thoughts sharper than usual.

"A-Arabella?" Cale choked. It was. He smiled with relief. "How did you blow up the plant without killing yourself?"

"Stella offered to do it," she said. Her eyes were bleak and there was ash on her shoulder. Cale brushed it off and embraced her without giving it another thought. Not even processing that Stella had been alive.

"So Stella didn't make it?" Gabe asked quietly. Arabella nodded as a single tear slipped from her eye. Gabe nodded curtly then turned away to leave however Jonas lingered.

"What happens now?" Chad said, directed to Cale.

"Now you can come with us, the damage has been dealt to the community and if Cale left, there would be more. Katharine is getting old," Jonas said. "Arabella, Chad, you have a choice to remain with the community and guide them through what happens next."

"How will any of them recognize the significance of blowing up the plant if it was top-secret anyways?" Arabella asked softly.

"Those who are aware of it under stand that it is important. They understand it is the key of a peaceful community," Jonas explained. "They will not know what to do and will look to the Reciever which is why Cale must come with us. Hopefully, Katharine will not live to make the decision."

Cale was horrified. How could he say something like that? Then to contradict Jonas' explanation, Cale understood his view. If Katharine was alive when they aksed for her help, it was quite possible that everything that they had done, as well as Stella's death, had been in vain.

"I will go with you," Chad told Jonas. A flicker of hesitation passed through Jonas' eyes.

"Are you sure you would not rather remain with the community?" Jonas said in a begging tone.

"I will go with you," Arabella said after some time.

Jonas shook his head as the flames that had devoured the plant died down. "One of you must remain behind to help the community."

"I will," Arabella volunteered after a long silence. Pain shot through Cale's eyes, but it was her duty to remain. He must understand that. "Cale, I have to stay behind. Someone needs to help them. It can't be you and Chad wants to go with you…"

"Chad, please. As a friend, will you please help the community?" Cale begged.

"I am not your friend. I took this own to help the community because they are fools. I will not remain among fools," Chad said defiantly, got in the car, and then drove away. Cale was shocked. It was clear from his expresson.

"Maybe we can all go, and try to fix it," Cale said. "We can figure it out together-"

There was another explosion. Arabella whirled around to see what had happened. Fire hungrily engulfed the community. People were screaming from the pain they had been sheltered from their whole life.

Arabella watched as the entire community was destroyed by fire.

Jonas couldn't believe it. In all his years, he never dreamed something like this would happen. Who had done it? No Chad…he didn't have the explosives. Gabe would never do it. Who had done it?

There wasn't time to ponder, he could hear Cale called for him. He turned to him just in time to see Arabella fall to the ground.

"What happened?" Cale demanded. Jonas' thoughts raced, why would that happen. Finally, a thought came to the times when he had been with the Giver.

"Katharine is dead," Jonas said. "The memories are returning to them all. I suppose they've just overwhelmed her."

"So she knows…everything know? Anyone who survives this fire will be like you and me?" Cale confirmed.

"Yes."

* * *

_et finis_

I hope you enjoyed my little story. This is the first story I've finished. Now that I've finished this, I will work on my Clockwork Orange one so check that out too!! I am quite proud of this story, it being the first one that I have started and actually finished. Now thinking through the rest of the story, I think they'd be better off there. If you read the first chapter of _Aftermath_, kudos to you, and those who missed it, I must admit it wasn't very good in the first place.

Here's the explanation for the people who think this is confusing: 1. Arabella is VERY confused in this chapter. VERY. Her chapter is a bit scattered. It is supposed to be like that 2. The plot is as follows: Stella dies and blows up the plant and Arabella makes it and then SOMEONE sets a bomb off in the community, killing Katharine and so all of her memories return to the people 3. Chad is an back-stabbing idiot.

I have been told I often have people walk away randomly and this chapter is one of the ones where they do that. ARABELLA runs away with the explosives because she is a bit disoriented and confused and feels like they're all betraying her and "commits suicide" but Stella does it instead. GABE leaves because he is overcome with grief. CHAD leaves because he hates them all and just wants revenge.

Hope that clarifies stuff up!  
Thanks to everyone who has reviewed EVER!!!!!!!! Its been tons of help!

Thanks for reading AND REVIEWING,  
Marion


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